India had never chased more than 325 to win an ODI on home soil and, if the old India might have regarded England as ripe for the taking, this present side lacks the same formidable presence. They came close, but when Ishant Sharma was left to hit Jade Dernbach's last two balls for six to win the match, India probably knew in their hearts that the game was up.

England had lost 16 of their last 18 ODIs in India and two defeats in their warm-up matches did not auger well, but they served up a victory for their new limited-overs coach, Ashley Giles, at the first time of asking and will now face the rest of the five-match series in the belief that they are in an even series.

The first international at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium lavished favours upon the batsmen. The pitch was amenable and the outfield glassy and there were many times when India's chase looked bound for success, not least when Yuvraj Singh struck a 38-ball fifty or MS Dhoni, furious that the water carriers did not seem to be living his dream, cleared the ropes four times in three overs.

But James Tredwell, with international-best figures of 4 for 44, stood firm. An understudy to Graeme Swann in England's ODI side, he now has a chance to assert himself with Swann resting out of the series, although "assert himself" is probably the wrong phrase because he is a mild-mannered unassuming chap, very much the introvert to Swann's extrovert.

This was only his 10th ODI, and the first time India had seen him. To their cost, four top batsmen now know a little bit more. Ajinkya Rahane and Gautam Gambhir had prospered against England's quick bowlers, but Tredwell dismissed them in successive overs, tossing one high to have Rahane caught at long-off and then deceiving Gambhir in the flight to have him caught at short midwicket.

None of England's thumpings came any worse than the 158-run defeat at Rajkot's old Madhavrao Scindia ground five years ago when Yuvraj, with 138, set about them. At a new stadium - immediately distinctive because of its Lord's-style media box - Yuvraj threatened to work his old magic, until he back-drove Tredwell to Jade Dernbach at short fine leg.

Briefly, it seemed as if the match might hinge on a reprieve for Suresh Raina, on 46, when he drove at Steven Finn and Tim Bresnan claimed a catch at third man, fairly enough, but there was just enough of a possibility on the TV replay that the ball had brushed the ground for the third umpire, Vineet Kulkarni, to rule "not out." India still needed 95 from 10 overs at that point, but Tredwell soon straightened one on a placid surface and held Raina's soft return catch. Swann would have looked ready to burst into song at that; Tredwell merely smiled in surprise.

Smart stats

England's total of 325 is their third-highest in ODIs in India, but it's their highest winning total. They'd tied (v India) and lost (v Ireland) on the two instances when they'd scored more.

India have scored 300 or more 71 times in ODIs - more than any other side - but their win-loss ratio in those matches is 4.38 (57 wins, 13 losses, one tie). Australia have the best win-loss ratio, winning 61 out of 66.

This is only the second time in England's ODI history that five of their top six batsmen scored 40 or more in a match.

The opening partnership of 158 between Alastair Cook and Ian Bell is England's fourth-highest for any wicket in India, and their second-highest for the first wicket. Bell has been involved in three of those four stands.

Ishant Sharma's economy rate of 8.60 is the poorest for any bowler who has bowled two or more maiden overs in an ODI. Only twice have Indian bowlers bowled ten-over spells and gone for more runs.

James Tredwell's 4 for 44 are his best figures in ODIs, and his second four-wicket haul in ten matches.

The crowd were stirred, nevertheless, chants of "Dhoni, Dhoni" gaining in intensity after an outrageous one-handed six off Samit Patel. But Dernbach, whose line to the left-handers had been so awry that it demanded a scribbled reminder to do better if he could find space on those powerful, tattooed forearms, removed Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja in the same over, Dhoni failing to muscle a slower ball over long-off.

As serenely as Ian Bell and Alastair Cook proceeded to give England a flattering start, in an opening stand of 158 in 27.4 overs, England's most destructive batsmen, Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan, were restricted to a brace of 40s. An uninhibited final fling by Patel, who made 44 not out from 20 balls, as 38 came from the last two overs, was a necessary flourish. Ishant, who always seemed to be bowling at the wrong time, conceded 20 in the penultimate over and leaked 86 in all.

Bell again looked so comfortable at the top of England's order in 50-over cricket that it is now hard to believe it took him so long to settle there. There was nothing outlandish in his strokeplay, just an exercise in technique and timing. His form has been a boon to Giles, their productive relationship at Warwickshire restated at international level.

Bell, on 15, edged Bhuvneshwar Kumar between MS Dhoni and R Ashwin, who was virtually stood at second slip, with both fielders motionless. It was apparent in the Test series that Dhoni's captaincy responsibilities sometimes submerge his keeping and he remained rooted. But these moments soon became distant regrets as Bell crept up the pitch surreptitiously in search of elegant drives.

Cook was not quite as mellifluous, but his resourcefulness is beyond doubt. Whatever he puts his mind to at the moment, he achieves and he is minded to lead England to a one-day series win in India. That would not be one of his most important prizes, but it would be one of his most remarkable.

Bell was run out by Rahane, who hit direct as the batsman tried to steal a single to short fine leg and chose not to dive for the crease; Rahane also had a hand in Cook's dismissal, although on this occasion he had no need to exert himself in the same position as Cook top-edged a sweep off Raina.

Raina sneaked in five overs for 18 as England's innings slowed; Joe Root, on debut, was to do the same for England later. Others had less cause for pleasure: Ashwin's tactic of stalling in his delivery stride, a method first employed by Robert Croft for England, was over-used and disturbed his own rhythm more than the batsmen's.

To see Pietersen and Morgan joining forces at 172 for 2 in the 32nd over was unnerving for India, but both began tentatively as Morgan, after some whip-crack flat-batting, fell to a return catch by Ashok Dinda, who fumbled and cradled the rebound. Pietersen lofted Dinda to long-on. Just when it seemed that England's innings was losing impetus, Patel proved otherwise.

Ind must play an extra batsman in shorter formats. Kohli has been in miserable form of late. With openers failing (this match, of course, is an exception), he is expected to hold the top order. The tail has become long too. starting right after Dhoni. To consider Jadeja and Ashwin as batsmen is a mistake. They managed to score runs only in hopeless situations (a match certain to lose with asking rate at 20+ or 300 runs to get with 2 wkts in hand etc.) with nothing to lose and no expectations before.

baranasai
on January 12, 2013, 9:54 GMT

India has done reasonably well even asthey have lost the match .They have shown they can fight and loose rather than meekly surrender.
One area of concern is their bowlers inspite of playing so many matches are not able to learn how to contain their opponents as well as bowl in an effective way.Their batsmen have been the problem before but this match they have made it up to some extent.I still feel thee should be a rotation of the Btasmen and the bowlers so that the inform people are in and those without form are out for some time.in this case we have to send out Ashwin and Kohli who are not in their best.Like shewag they need to go for some time

on January 11, 2013, 8:10 GMT

India might win this match or more likely lose this match. I really don't understand the thinking behind dropping Shami Ahmed for Dinda though I have nothing against Dinda. Shami Ahmed bowled a wicket maiden over in the 48th over of the match against Pakistan to seal the match for India and I really cant fathom why he isnt playing in the XI. Pujara is a batsman in great form who has scored a triple century in Ranji Trophy and he also isnt playing. I just dont understand the logic.

CricketingStargazer
on January 14, 2013, 13:13 GMT

@baranasai True, but that may not be a good thing. England was coming off a huge run of defeats, had lost their two warm-ups badly and was surely short of confidence. If the best that India could do, having just pulled-off a good win against Pakistan that should have helped self-belief was to compete, does that really auger well for the second match where England will know that they can win and will want to do it again? The moment to catch England cold was, surely, the first match, wasn't it?

ThemanID
on January 14, 2013, 10:27 GMT

Really expected by India even as an Indian fan. Honestly only an Hardcore Indian fan will say that India is gonna win this series. We defeated more or less this same team 5-0 twice and now struggling to score 300 on a road. And btw, non related to the match but please we Indian fans shouldn't over hype pujara. He is scoring runs, but our domestic bowling is shite. Just like we said kohli that he is the next sachin, now unable to score runs against good bowling side. Remember what happened to pujara in SA?

on January 14, 2013, 8:20 GMT

Drs must be allowed by BCCI because many decision has gone other way and india can afford udrs icc should implement on india forcefully as icc is bigger than bcci

on January 14, 2013, 8:14 GMT

I like to comment on India practice session In kolkata where India lost, they have enough time upto 8 days before the test match after losing in mumbai but they went on to practice when england practice that is on sunday if they had arrived before england 2 days before reault has been different same against Pakistan they party in night for new year and skip the practice session on 1st jan just a day before they pracice in kolkata they lost again they against england they done the same mistake they started practicing just a day before and england team practice in evening two days before rajkot match. the attitude they are showing very much unprofessional.
And Captain Dhoni must be rested because he looks jaded in this series. he have been playing continuously not working for india and rest duncan fletcher as a coach

on January 14, 2013, 4:51 GMT

SRT retires and India loses to an England B team. Indian cricket has devolved to the 80s (to the pre SRT era). Players like Aswin, Jadeja, Gambhir wouldnt make it to most 90s Indian teams. If India's no 1 spinner is Aswin atm, then god help them in the coming months. He is terrible.

uk.john
on January 14, 2013, 4:03 GMT

i think india will loose this series too.. they have over-rated themselves. actually they cant beat Zim or BAN teams too ...

nyc_missile
on January 14, 2013, 3:28 GMT

Dhoni excels in picking the worst possible team irrespective of the quality of players in the squad.I guess a soft coach like Duncan doesn't help either.Nobody who watches the proceedings from such close quarters can just overlook such atrocious selections unless there's a huge incentive to do otherwise.May be that;s what BCCI is doing it.

Mohinder Amarnath would have been the best thing that could have happened to selection committee ..at the least he would have fired the utterly hopeless Dhoni as captain from test side ..alas not to be!

CricketChat
on January 12, 2013, 11:57 GMT

Ind must play an extra batsman in shorter formats. Kohli has been in miserable form of late. With openers failing (this match, of course, is an exception), he is expected to hold the top order. The tail has become long too. starting right after Dhoni. To consider Jadeja and Ashwin as batsmen is a mistake. They managed to score runs only in hopeless situations (a match certain to lose with asking rate at 20+ or 300 runs to get with 2 wkts in hand etc.) with nothing to lose and no expectations before.

baranasai
on January 12, 2013, 9:54 GMT

India has done reasonably well even asthey have lost the match .They have shown they can fight and loose rather than meekly surrender.
One area of concern is their bowlers inspite of playing so many matches are not able to learn how to contain their opponents as well as bowl in an effective way.Their batsmen have been the problem before but this match they have made it up to some extent.I still feel thee should be a rotation of the Btasmen and the bowlers so that the inform people are in and those without form are out for some time.in this case we have to send out Ashwin and Kohli who are not in their best.Like shewag they need to go for some time

on January 11, 2013, 8:10 GMT

India might win this match or more likely lose this match. I really don't understand the thinking behind dropping Shami Ahmed for Dinda though I have nothing against Dinda. Shami Ahmed bowled a wicket maiden over in the 48th over of the match against Pakistan to seal the match for India and I really cant fathom why he isnt playing in the XI. Pujara is a batsman in great form who has scored a triple century in Ranji Trophy and he also isnt playing. I just dont understand the logic.

CricketingStargazer
on January 14, 2013, 13:13 GMT

@baranasai True, but that may not be a good thing. England was coming off a huge run of defeats, had lost their two warm-ups badly and was surely short of confidence. If the best that India could do, having just pulled-off a good win against Pakistan that should have helped self-belief was to compete, does that really auger well for the second match where England will know that they can win and will want to do it again? The moment to catch England cold was, surely, the first match, wasn't it?

ThemanID
on January 14, 2013, 10:27 GMT

Really expected by India even as an Indian fan. Honestly only an Hardcore Indian fan will say that India is gonna win this series. We defeated more or less this same team 5-0 twice and now struggling to score 300 on a road. And btw, non related to the match but please we Indian fans shouldn't over hype pujara. He is scoring runs, but our domestic bowling is shite. Just like we said kohli that he is the next sachin, now unable to score runs against good bowling side. Remember what happened to pujara in SA?

on January 14, 2013, 8:20 GMT

Drs must be allowed by BCCI because many decision has gone other way and india can afford udrs icc should implement on india forcefully as icc is bigger than bcci

on January 14, 2013, 8:14 GMT

I like to comment on India practice session In kolkata where India lost, they have enough time upto 8 days before the test match after losing in mumbai but they went on to practice when england practice that is on sunday if they had arrived before england 2 days before reault has been different same against Pakistan they party in night for new year and skip the practice session on 1st jan just a day before they pracice in kolkata they lost again they against england they done the same mistake they started practicing just a day before and england team practice in evening two days before rajkot match. the attitude they are showing very much unprofessional.
And Captain Dhoni must be rested because he looks jaded in this series. he have been playing continuously not working for india and rest duncan fletcher as a coach

on January 14, 2013, 4:51 GMT

SRT retires and India loses to an England B team. Indian cricket has devolved to the 80s (to the pre SRT era). Players like Aswin, Jadeja, Gambhir wouldnt make it to most 90s Indian teams. If India's no 1 spinner is Aswin atm, then god help them in the coming months. He is terrible.

uk.john
on January 14, 2013, 4:03 GMT

i think india will loose this series too.. they have over-rated themselves. actually they cant beat Zim or BAN teams too ...

nyc_missile
on January 14, 2013, 3:28 GMT

Dhoni excels in picking the worst possible team irrespective of the quality of players in the squad.I guess a soft coach like Duncan doesn't help either.Nobody who watches the proceedings from such close quarters can just overlook such atrocious selections unless there's a huge incentive to do otherwise.May be that;s what BCCI is doing it.

Mohinder Amarnath would have been the best thing that could have happened to selection committee ..at the least he would have fired the utterly hopeless Dhoni as captain from test side ..alas not to be!

bijuphilip
on January 14, 2013, 2:31 GMT

I would say since veru is outfrom the team yuvi should open the innings and let him play his natural stroke like veeru does,gambir should be the captain
My final eleven is
Yuvi,rahane,gambir,pujara,kholi,dhoni,raina,irfan,buvaneshkumar,praveen kumar rahul sharma for both one day and t20
reserve players,manoj thivary,aswain,ambadi rayidu,sreesanth

if pathan and manoj thivary is not available,we can consider shamiahemad and Under 19captain chand

The_bowlers_Holding
on January 13, 2013, 22:28 GMT

Sam Sloane on (January 12 2013, 09:26 AM GMT) I don't know if you are aware but Sachin retired from ODI's so making him captain is not really an option. Hoping to see more sporting pitches but that is like hoping for a long hot summer in England.

Malik121
on January 13, 2013, 21:44 GMT

Yeah, I think MS Dhoni is still right person to lead the Indian team. I am a Pakistani supporter but its always nice to see cool Dhoni,s captaincy. He is one of my favourite player in cricket world. I think its time for India to have a balance side, i mean you can,t win the games on your batting all the time, you have to be a balance side. India is always rely on there batting and go with thd extra batsmen, which is negative approch. I know thet havd won the two ICC cups, but still u need a balance side to be No-1 side in the world. Indian batting has been below part recently, they have to perform by now. And i hope India will be top side again and MS Dhoni is gonna be top captain in the world. Good Luck to India for the next four games against England.

JG2704
on January 13, 2013, 20:18 GMT

@Hash_Tag on (January 11 2013, 20:59 PM GMT) Mate , all your comms are spot on both re the English Cricket guy and your fellow Indian fan who could probably start an argument in solitary confinement. BTW , Thanks for the congrats although I think India will still win the series

CandidIndian
on January 13, 2013, 20:18 GMT

Harmony111-Actually there are many Pak fans who come here for Indian bashing,and funny thing is they dont even know stats of their team or conveniently avoid the same .India are not world beaters or anything and they have been poor in last 2 years but in last decade they have won test series in Eng Pak and WI and drawn series in Aus, SA .In ODIs they have won series in Aus ,WI, SL,Eng ,NZ and won WC .While for Pakistan ,in last 10 years ,have not won series in Eng,got thrashed in Aus whenever they toured and they could not beat weak test side like WI in WI.They have not won any test or ODI series against Aus (home or away),while India have consistently beaten Aussies at home.They can only brag about 1-1 against Aus in Eng and 3-0 win over Eng in UAE.Yes Indian team is very poor right now but at-least they were competitive few years back,reached no1 ranking in tests and won WC.While for Pak with all their raw talent have very less to show in terms of series wins atleast in last 10 yrs

Harmony111
on January 13, 2013, 16:54 GMT

@supadupamonk: Not for a moment should you believe that KiwiRocker is a real Kiwi fan. He is not. He is very clearly a Pakistani who is masquerading as a Kiwi. Now why would he do that? He does that cos he feels that way he can attack anything related to Ind without linking Pakistan to it. He also feels that ppl as a reaction will naturally talk about his home team i.e NZ and so the usually peaceful and quiet NZ fans too will feel that Ind fans are attacking them. Basically KiwiRocker is an Extended Troll. His comments are always full of acid against Ind/BCCI and he will somehow relate anything wrong with Sachin and will then get busy in full scale Sachin bashing. I've given him ample time to prove his hilarious charges against Sachin but he can't even take that challenge.

Isn't it weird that he says he's a Kiwi yet we don't find him ever commenting on matches related to NZ?

Having proven that he is not a Kiwi, what kind of a person lies about his identity? Insecure? Think think ....

supadupamonk
on January 13, 2013, 16:05 GMT

@KiwiRocker: I have been reading ur comments for some time now and thought of replying to you but didnt.....but now in this forum when i saw ur comments even after the beating that ur team is receiving at the hands of SA i feel pity that you are still making fun of other teams yet ur team is making records in getting humiliated....feel sorry for you...i can understand why ur supporting other countries...lol...our Indian team is in a rebuilding phase we will support our team no matter what....why dont u worry abt ur team's pathetic shows....

Al_Bundy1
on January 13, 2013, 14:50 GMT

England is playing England A team. Why can't India play India A team?? India should rest all it's big names like Gambhir, Kohli, Aswin, Ishant, Dinda, and Dhoni and try some youngsters like Dhawan, Pujara, Nadeem, Shami Ahmed, Ishwar Pandey, and Karthick/Patel. I am willing to bet that India A will win most of the times. This is a perfect time to test our bench strength.

Harmony111
on January 13, 2013, 13:30 GMT

@JG2704: I use qualifiers like "some", "most", "few" and yet I am being paranoid?
I guess you chose the wrong word there, I am not being paranoid. As an Ind, I don't really fear anyone nor do I think anyone can harm Ind. A better word would have been irritated. The perfect word would have been Amusingly Annoyed.

RoW fans esp those special ones (or rather SOME of those special ones) constantly crib about how BCCI is dominating the administration and keep attacking Ind/BCCI/IPL for just about anything that is wrong with Cricket. In WT20, Ind was criticized for not supporting Afghanistan in there development, ONLY IND was criticized. Is it not the duty of Eng or Aus too? Why pick India only? What was forgotten was that the Afghan team has in fact trained in Pune i.e India. So these RoW fans are not only into making misplaced criticism but also misleading criticism.

They say that Ind oppose DRS cos they are scared of losing yet they say Ind won WC due to DRS - LOL

Paranoia? Of Such ppl?

Harmony111
on January 13, 2013, 12:53 GMT

@Sinhaya: Ppl who don't talk much are often misunderstood. Srinivasan is one such. I don't say he is correct in every thing he says or does, same for BCCI but on most matters ppl go against BCCI cos that is the flow. For eg DRS and IPL. Everyone makes money off IPL yet criticizes it like sallat 5 times a day. Hardly anyone can prove that DRS data collection/modeling/extrapolation meets certain standards yet just cos BCCI says no to it they all want it (even though not many can afford it).

Yet another refrain is that India/BCCI is somehow against Tests. I would say that even if we take disjoint sets of Ind fans who like only Tests/ODI/T20, each set will still be larger than the RoW fans put together. It is fashionable to say BCCI/Ind is killing tests. Aus plays 5 tests with Eng regularly but seldom with SL and even rarer with BD. That is killing cricket. If Eng/Aus are so worried bout Tests' future why not invite BD more often? Why Eng poaches players from Ireland to weaken them?

on January 13, 2013, 12:17 GMT

why aswin is in the team?

The_Ashes
on January 13, 2013, 11:11 GMT

Samit Patel was the difference between the 2 sides in the end. Even 340 wouldn't have been enough on this pitch but England bowled really well.

Captainman
on January 13, 2013, 10:59 GMT

Billion people with all that resources who love Cricket and still not on top says everything :)

Captainman
on January 13, 2013, 10:59 GMT

India are a pathetic team even get thrashed in their own grounds now :)

Harmony111
on January 13, 2013, 10:10 GMT

@KiwiRocker-: Aha, so you are a born and bred Kiwi who supports Pakistan? Looks like consanguinity to me. I've never seen you commenting and at least not this vigorously/vitriolically on articles related to NZ. The only time I see you is when Pak play a match or when Ind plays a match. Your leit motif is to involve Sachin in nearly every comment of yours. If you are a Kiwi then I did not see you saying much when Aus lost the last Ashes or to RSA. What kind of a Kiwi are you then? Born and bred in NZ but whose heart beats only for Pak? Must have been an excellent birth n breeding for you then...good.

Anyways, whatever you talked about Ind, I've no where denied it so what's ur point?

espncricinfo.com/india-v-pakistan-2012/content/story/599853.html

I challenged you there and you ran away cos you had no answers. Talk of facts Mister, don't walk on pebbles. Reply to me here if you can. Prove your claims that:

IMO - Patel was unlucky not to be man of the match. When you look at all the things that happenned in the match, Patel taking Sharma apart at the death was the difference. Good game, England have certainly done well, & it goes to show that trial form means little. I like 300 run shoot outs, but would like to see a sub 200 grind too!

Dhoni can be a good accountant.WTH does he mean by saying 'We gave lot of runs in the last two overs' ? We don't know math?!

nyc_missile
on January 13, 2013, 4:13 GMT

Ind cricket is made to look worse than it actually is thanks to Dhoni,his stupid selections and tactics.Don't say,we don't have a fast bowling pool.Its how they are 'managed' which is awful.One man,Kumble had the guts and vision to spell it out clearly to the Board about a road-map for player/ injury management and his proposal gets shot down.Is there any constructive thing that this deaf BCCI intends to give a listen? Lets come to batting,which is the single biggest reason for all the test humiliations abroad and at home.If you keep persisting with or recycling the same old squad that failed 10-15 times,you cannot expect anything new from them suddenly can you? Unless there is a special effort somewhere,from an individual,the captain .. sadly neither happened and that's why we're here 2 yrs down the line from a memorable WC discussing about the abyss Ind cricket has fallen to.Dump Dhoni,Viru&Sachin from test team,you'll see results automatically

jmcilhinney
on January 13, 2013, 3:50 GMT

@Nampally on (January 13 2013, 00:09 AM GMT), Panesar took 17 wickets in three Tests in that same series. Does that mean that India have a reputation of being weak against left-arm spin too? All else being equal, of course a right-hand batsman is going to have more trouble with left-arm spin because the ball is turning away. That's true the world over, not just for England. It's the same reason that Swann has had so much success against left-handers (incidentally, he must be licking his lips at the prospect of bowling to Australia's almost exclusively left-handed batting lineup, so Ashwin should do better against them than Ojha too). As for Australia having used left-arm seamers successfully against England, I'm not sure what that has to do with England allegedly having a reputation of being poor against left-arm spin and I'm not sure that there is any specific evidence that it's true anyway. Got any actual figures to back up that claim?

Indian_Cricket_Fanatic
on January 13, 2013, 2:34 GMT

Gambhir's innings involved a lot of poking even today........
And if you analyse you could see he had about few of his runs inside edged to the boundary....
Not being able to see the ball in a clear batting friendly track shows how he is struggling with his form...
Pujara for Gambhir should be given chance as he is very good with his technique and similar is rahane who can continue along....Kohli once he gets his form back can be devastating...
When you have these three as top three...it is to be seen whom dhoni gives chance along with himself in the bottom 3....yuvraj and raina ? can they be as effective in australia 2015?? .or do we need to look at M.Tiwary when he gets fit??..This series is equally important but india should also look to defend their WC title and give chance to those youngsters who can perform there after two years..Sandeep Sharma of Punjab should be given chance somewhere.....

Nampally
on January 13, 2013, 0:09 GMT

@jmcilhinney:Ojha, the left handed Indian spinner, took 21 wkts. in the series of 4 Test matches against England. Yuvraj took 3 Wkts. in one Test & after that Dhoni for the reasons best knoiwn to him stopped giving any bowling to Yuvraj. Yuvraj had earlier taken 5 for -- against England in a practice match. Aussies used LH seamers successfully against England. Cook being a LH batsman has been able to counter the LH bowlers very well. May be it is just a coincidence but LH spinners have been more successful against England than RH spinners- Pakistani off spinner is an exception.

KiwiRocker-
on January 12, 2013, 22:30 GMT

Harmony111 : What page? India may have lost 10 of their last test matches. India may have been booted out of T20WC before even reaching semis, India may have even narrowly saved themselves from a brown wash against Pakistan but it is all meaningless when it comes to you. Mate, you are either too new around here or naive! You are typing a lot of comments without substance. The fact remains that India has lost against English 'A" team and it is high time that ICC reviews India's test and ODI status! Just a correction, I am born and bred Kiwi but I support Pakistan so English comes to me naturally(indeed laughing)!

on January 12, 2013, 19:02 GMT

I'm surprised this article does not mention the exclusion of Shami Ahmed in favor of Ashok Dinda. For me, that was when India lost the plot.

Rakesh_Sharma
on January 12, 2013, 18:46 GMT

Look at the number of matches the players have played for India. Huge.Just couple of players have less than 50 matches. Indian team is the most experienced. Kohli and Raina are one of the most experienced players in the world. How come any one call them inexperienced. Infact the most experienced players in England has played as many as Kohli itself. What does it mean? It means once the selectors get baby faces in the team by claiming their so called " talented label" they make them play till they reach retirement age for any job. In the name of "talented label" ,they offer them so much exposure that they get used to playing to international bowlers even if the "talented label" was actually a fake favouritism. Giving excessive exposure for just selected few baby faces is the biggest favoritism of selectors.Rest of the career they use this experience at the cost of other young players who dont get such oppurtunity of exposure.
India is a huge population not like New Zealand.

nyc_missile
on January 12, 2013, 18:29 GMT

The reason Pujara holds the key for this Ind team is most of the top order cannot perform outside the sub-continent,and recent results show that they cannot even score at home..So Pujara who is almost in Dravid mold in terms of technique and temperament can hold the team together by allowing stroke players to express themselves.WC win was fantastic and memorable but one needs to tweak it especially if its not been working for 2 years.This team has too many flashy players relying on hand-eye coordination:Raina,Yuvraj etc.Time to go for early 2000s style.Dravid as the anchor allowed Sehwag,Yuvraj,Ganguly & Sachin to smash around keeping one end locked in.Also why the heck is Rohit not playing in the team when part of 15.This is where Dhoni annoys and frustrates people with his stupid selections.The best possible combination from this squad IMO: Gambhir Rahane Pujara Kohli Rohit Raina Dhoni Ashwin B.Kumar Shami Dinda

Al_Bundy1
on January 12, 2013, 18:10 GMT

Excellent point by @Shashipathy Katikaneni - " it is not that Ishant played 40 test matches. Seems like he has played the same test match 40 times". The problem is why do Indian Selectors and Dhoni keep selecting him time and again?? This England team is not full strength team - they have rested their top bowlers - Swann, Monty, Anderson, and Broad. India A team and Delhi team were able to defeat this England team. If Indian Selectors and Coach/Captain can't do their job and find new talent - maybe it's time to throw them out???

OceanM
on January 12, 2013, 17:51 GMT

A great captain always wants to lead by example and not blame others for the losses. Is dhoni doing enough within his control to win a game for India, NO. One of the problems the team has is Yuvi playing at # 4 which he has not done before and least equipped to do so. He has been excellent at #5 or 6 where you go in and score a quick 50-60. #4 spot needs a lot of patience and technique to get thru good spin/slow bowling which he obviously cant do. They should include Pujara at # 4 spot or dhoni who is supposedly in good form can probably handle pressure. And I cant comprehend his love for ashwin and jadeja. Pls give a chance to other young spinners and see what they can do before judging them.

on January 12, 2013, 17:38 GMT

A few years ago Shane Warne said of Monte Panesar " it is not that Monte played 40 test matches. Seems like he has played the same test match 40 times". This comment was more on Monte's bowling abilities or lack there of. Watching the great Indian hope Ishant Sharma's bowling the comment seems more suited to Ishant. This guy's bowling is pure trash. There is no skill, no plan and no execution to his bowling. Having played two seasons of IPL alongside Steyn, one would think he learned some of the nuances of bowling. Ishant please prove me wrong.

Romenevans
on January 12, 2013, 17:24 GMT

I think its time we should call Nayan Moniga back in the Test team and Vijay Dhahiya in the ODI team and we should also call Amay Khurasia and play him for Gambhir, then we can think about calling Ritender Singh Sodi and play him for Jadeja. Excellent fielder, hard hitting slogger and "the best ODI death over bowler as well"

on January 12, 2013, 17:21 GMT

The problem with indian team is that they have gone in a slump with the similar team that won them the world cup ,that took them to the number 1 ranking and now that team is failing and that makes it difficult for the selectors and fans as the track record of the players is excellent.They have performed in the past and whenever a player goes in to slump and there are calls for him to drop and the next match that player scores a 50 and you cant drop a player with an average of over 40..what the selectos need to do is drop players after 2 bad matches and that would make them hungry.There may be various reasons for the bad phase for indian cricket.Either the pllayers have really lost their midas touch and have forgotten how to play or they have become too complacent after winning the worldcup and take other teams for granted...their maybe another reason that all the other teams that have beaten them have been more stronger.australia,england,pakistan are all strong sides.may be too strong.

on January 12, 2013, 17:10 GMT

Ms dhoni was a lucky leader how has player like luxmin and dravid sohag in his team dhoni is great player but never a great leader he select always his own choice player becouse of this reason tendokar retire from one day not playing his farewell match how has great record of centuries dhoni victom are long list of indian but yousaf and irfan pathan and sohag and waseem jaffer in test side how safe india in australia in last visit india lost matchies due to wrong policy in selection Is danda is better than nehra or irfan pathan or great munaf petal

on January 12, 2013, 17:10 GMT

Ms dhoni was a lucky leader how has player like luxmin and dravid sohag in his team dhoni is great player but never a great leader he select always his own choice player becouse of this reason tendokar retire from one day not playing his farewell match how has great record of centuries dhoni victom are long list of indian but yousaf and irfan pathan and sohag and waseem jaffer in test side how safe india in australia in last visit india lost matchies due to wrong policy in selection Is danda is better than nehra or irfan pathan or great munaf petal

Nampally
on January 12, 2013, 16:25 GMT

@Nandan Nadkarni:As Regards Pujara's illogical dropping, you reflect the views of 90% of Cricket fans. Only Insane captain could field a XI -minus Pujara in top form.On this flat Rajkot wkt. not one of the Indian batsmen got a century. Pujara got a triple century on the same wkt. just 2 days earlier. Shami's dropping again is totally illogical. A bowler that is really missing is S.Nadeem. He can bottle up one end at <4 runs/over- better than Ashwin. But Nadeem does not even appear on the radar! Even in this match, although Gambhir & Rahane both got about 50 runs, can they do it on a more sporting wkt? Cook & Bell opening for England each got over 75. So again the difference shows.MSD seems to keep Yuvi just for batting. Yuvi as an all rounder deserves a spot but not as a specialist bat at the expense of Pujara. Actually Pujara is better specialist bat than any of the Indian batsmen.MSD even took out some of his anger on Pujara when he brought his helmet as a substitute - shown on TV!

jmcilhinney
on January 12, 2013, 16:15 GMT

@Nampally on (January 12 2013, 16:03 PM GMT), KP is just one player. You said that England have a reputation for being weak against left-arm spin and I said that England as a team do not. Do you disagree? The fact that one player has such a reputation doesn't mean that the team does.

Nampally
on January 12, 2013, 16:03 GMT

@jmcilhinney: Look up how many times KP got out to left hand spinners or seamers. Yuvraj has taken wkts. in crucial games against the best batsmen. 158 opening partnership with "Rubbish specialist bowlers" is unacceptable.India would have done much better with part-time bowlers who can bat. The worse thing is Dhoni's persistant insanity to go with the same XI after losing.
@maddy20: When was the last time BCCI actively participated in welfare of Cricket in India? Sahara did more for Cricket than BCCI. The Selectors choose a crazy squad worse than Team India A or Delhi team & expect it to win?
@Dhar Santi: Pujara's dropping cost India this match. But Dhoni's irrationality despite at least 500 Cricinfo comments supporting Pujara cost India the ODI. MSD is Mr. Cool - even if India get thrashed to high heavens he remains "Cool". 11-1 thrashing in 3 Test series +loss of all ODI series so far to England, Australia, Pakistan & now to England."Mr. Cool" gets admiration for sound thrashing!

Al_Bundy1
on January 12, 2013, 15:55 GMT

Agree with @ ir_prathik - India will win the day we get rid of Ishant Sharma, Dinda, Ashwin & Gambhir. Shami Ahmed is better than Ishant or Dinda. Plus this is just another inconsequential ODI series - Why not test your bench strength, and give a chance to successful Ranji Trophy pace bowlers like Ishwar Pandey, Sandeep Sharma, Imtiaz Ahmed, and all-rounders like Abhisek Nayar and Rishi Dhawan???

rosh280
on January 12, 2013, 15:53 GMT

Pragyan ojha and amit mishra are the current great spinners we should use them inaddition to aswin and jadeja. India had great problem in giving runs in first 20 and last 10 overs. This should be contained with great fast bowling. Pankaj singh, ishwar pandey, anand rajan, deepak chahar could be used at some time in the matches against england. They are the future prospects for india. we found a new bowler in bhuvanesh kumar. why cant we try jalaj saxena, anustup majumdar, amitoze singh, sunny singh, yogesh nagar into the team they all are great alrounders. bhuvanesh kumar should bat up the order he is a great batsman. with jalaj saxena he had made lot of winning circumstances against different team. ashok dinda gives away lot of runs in international matches .otherwise he is a good bowler. ashok dinda, ishant and sreesanth can be a good option for test match. pankaj singh is such a bowler he is suited to any format of the game. we hope there are changes for the better cricket.

Al_Bundy1
on January 12, 2013, 15:48 GMT

@InsideHedge makes some good comments. I liked the comparison between Joe Root and Ashwin. How come Joe Root, at best a county level spinner, was able to bowl better than Aswhin?? Ashwin is not fit for Tests or ODI. Indian Selectors need to find another spinner - maybe Parvez Rassol of Kashmir, or Nadeem of Jharkhand, or one of the Delhi lads can do better.

rosh280
on January 12, 2013, 15:43 GMT

One should never underestimate england team that is the mistake india do almost all of the time. we feel as if indian batting lineup is the weakest. we need to understand the pitch very well before we select players for the match. Non performing players should never be included in the next game. It is the high time that we need to include cheteswar pujara into the side as well murali vijay too. we need to bring back dinesh karthik to the side. In one days we need to have some players who are technically correct and consistent players. dinesh karthik is the better replacement for virat kohli. let kohli find some form. It is not correct to remove rohit sharma he should bat at no.3 position. he is one player who can rotate the strike and he can change the situation. even ravindra jadeja and aswin are the great alrounders india has recently seen they should keep their attitude in every match.
For fast bowling we should go with i sharma,kumar,sharma.

on January 12, 2013, 15:21 GMT

For gods sake someone please drop Ishant Sharma/Dinda and get Shami ahmed in that spot. Virat is just clearly out of his element atm, replace him with Pujara. If that doesn't work, i dont know what will.

maddy20
on January 12, 2013, 15:19 GMT

Ishant Sharma should be rewarded for his excellent performance with a place on the bench, currently under the safe-keeping of the obviously-more-talented Shammi Ahmed. Ashwin seems to have lost his magic touch that he had a few months ago. What on earth is the bowling coach doing? The death bowling which had been our Achillies heel for a millennium now continues to be an issue. May be its time that BCCI re-looked at the credentials of the current coaching staff, particularly Fletcher. This is a very critical phase for our new-look team and we should ensure that the people guiding them actually know how to bat/bowl/field.

on January 12, 2013, 15:18 GMT

One change I would suggest to drop kohli and bring pujara. With openers not being in form need someone at 1 down to hold wicket and stabilize inning. I would prefer shami over Dinda and use yuvi instead of Ashwin. Ashwin is not consistent performers , yuvi is. This will give chance to add another batsman. Meanwhile team India should search for consistent performer like Saeed Ajmal and harbhajan

Tal_Botvinnik
on January 12, 2013, 15:06 GMT

the indian team is the most over hyped team ever.can't even select 11 proper players out of a nation of 1,210,193,422 cricket crazy fans. bcci is nothing but a joke.their coach is the main joker.dhoni is nothing but a greedy man looking for money

jmcilhinney
on January 12, 2013, 15:05 GMT

@Nampally on (January 12 2013, 14:38 PM GMT), I'm not sure that England as a team are necessarily known to have a weakness against left-arm spin specifically but, given that he seemed to have the wood on them in the T20's, it does seem a bit strange that Yuvraj wasn't given at least an over or two.

Cricketfan101
on January 12, 2013, 14:55 GMT

Posted by Indian_Cricket_Fanatic on (January 12 2013, 14:27 PM GMT) I think india could try him but i dont how good his bowling is going to be but if they have included jadeja for one test i persume they will carry on with him for a while

Nampally
on January 12, 2013, 14:38 GMT

If you analyse the game, you can see that India's 4 "Specialist" bowlers- Kumar, Ishant, Dinda & Ashwin, gave away 256 runs in 34 overs bowled by them. Jadeja & Raina gave just 63 runs in 15 overs. This begs 2 questions of Dhoni's Captaincy-1. Why was Raina not allowed to complete his 10 overs when he got 1 for 19 in 5 overs? 2. Why was Yuvraj not allowed to bowl when he is in the team as an all rounder when even Kohli bowled one over for 9 runs? England are known to be weak against left arm spinners! When Dhoni unilaterally justifies his team selection, he should also justify his bowling changes & who he bowls. India has lost its crdeibility in Tests badly both in India & abroad- Thanks to Dhoni's leadership. Now they are losing it in ODI's too. My advise to the Selectors is to pick 5 decent bowlers + 5 decent batsmen +1 WK. Name this XI & give it Dhoni. Appoint 2 local players as 12th & 13th man. If Dhoni is given a free hand in selection of XI, India will lose 5-0 to England.

Indian_Cricket_Fanatic
on January 12, 2013, 14:27 GMT

An off topic thoughts and england fans can well look over.
@indian fans...how do you rate abhishek nayar in place of jadeja in india's test team at number 6 for the up-coming australia series....Nayar for Mumbai has scored at an average of 57 odd in first class and also has bowled considerably well at decent average of 30 ....It's true he is at the wrong side of his age at 29 ..but looks well fit and can solve the problem of india's batting allrounder who can even bowl.... for the next 5-8 years if groomed well... please reply to me with your opinion...
with nayar in india can well continue to use him as third seamer in a 2 spinners and 2 seamers attack in subcontinent and as fourth one in foreign tours.....

madhu-82
on January 12, 2013, 14:21 GMT

Kohli can be kept in playing 11 despite his failures in last 4 odis, because two of dismissals to junaid khan are due to excellent deliveries. same cant be said about dismisals of gambhir and sehwag in recent months. IPL has completely changed gambhirs game, where he is trying to steal the runs rather than earn them through proper cricketing shots , that was what made him so special in 2009. This is 2013, and its better for players like gauti and sehwag to go and play domestic cricket and make a comeback. thats the norm for players of all other countries but not indian top players as they are not confident of making a comeback. media should not over do after a player is dropped, like its end of his carrer etc. then we can test new players and can keep an eye on those who have already performed at international level. its the way forward for team india, to improve their game. Selectors should stop selecting players on IPL performance for odi and tests.

JustTalkCricket
on January 12, 2013, 13:40 GMT

Dhoni has just missed the MOM award by 4 runs this time .. LOL... last time he scored 36 and won the award and this time he scored 32...

@InsideHedge on (January 11 2013, 22:03 PM GMT) A bit touchy there. It's only a game

on January 12, 2013, 13:05 GMT

sreesanth and harbhajan should be back in squad and mr ashwin not bowling well he is a t20 player axe rohit sharma and gambhir b cause they totally out of form in this season if player like harbhajan who served india for ten years sitting out why rohit and gambhir being given chance sack coach duncan fletcher he has taken india down to rocks he is wasting our indian team resources.

rsurya
on January 12, 2013, 12:59 GMT

U cant even bet a 10 runs on Ravindra Jadeja but dhoni feels he is the man of future. Ishanth Sharma is not a bowler and it will be found after next worldcup. Dhoni is not a captain too, if sehwag sachin gambhir yuvi kohli are in form then our team wins automatically otherwise it loses i don't know where comes this man Dhoni the Great. Funny Cricket.

y4yoga
on January 12, 2013, 12:48 GMT

what I feel and want to TEAM INDIA TO DO(no need a team change but change in Tactics)
FOR SEAMERS

Why there is no yorker or a bounce in the first 15 overs? trying out inswing outswing, swing swing swing, opposition( subcontinent or Rest of world) are clearly able to guess you easily after your first two overs and you are hit for 4's and 6' sthere on. why not atleast a surprising slow ball in the beginning overs. Is there any rule for Indian seamers to not to use any bounce, yorker or slow ball in the first 15 overs?If you don't get a wicket of your usual delivery there is nothing to try for a variation. to be very simple "try to guess the batsmen rather than the batsmen guessing you"

FOR INDIAN SPINNERS
Nowadays I(everyone) can see only the name ' Indians are a great spinners of the ball" not in reality.
1. Like as I said to seamers If you don't get wicket of your usual delivery why don't you try a different ball? rather than only once and not in ur entire 10 ovrs which is no use

on January 12, 2013, 12:44 GMT

Indian team is playing their worst cricket ever. such a flat track.. and Indian batsmen struggle against spinners who are inexperienced than dinda
I think India will lose the series 4-1 because their bowlers as well as batsment not doing well completely. last year when kohli was in form India won many matches that too how many others scored but now he is out of form and india rely on kohli heavily while chasing 5 to 6 batsmen are out of form in this squad.

y4yoga
on January 12, 2013, 12:30 GMT

what I feel and want to TEAM INDIA TO DO(no need a team change but change in Tactics)
FOR INDIAN BATSMEN
1. No one in the current team has the real ability to play a sweep shot(except yuvi in some occasions ) or a reverse sweep. I f you are afraid to play against a spin or an arm ball from a spinner why don't you use a sweep or a reverse sweep?

2. Why don't you play a pull shot or atleast a dil scoop if you are afraid of short ball (even if you tug ur hand on top of your head you get out) instead of leaving and wasting those deliveries

3. Why do you always stand in the crease and either get LBW or caught behind rather than Stepping a crease forward or crossing the line and make the bowler to guess( ex: kevin pieterson)

If you batsmen can practice in net itself you everyone can become a great batsemn

jmcilhinney
on January 12, 2013, 12:26 GMT

@Cpt.Meanster on (January 12 2013, 03:50 AM GMT), comments like that are just silly. It's easy to say that your team would have won if this didn't happen or that didn't happen. Well, the fact is that that over did happen so India as a team just weren't good enough. Certainly it's valid to say that the team need to work on certain things to improve or even that individuals need to improve but to blame the loss on one specific thing is burying your head in the sand. India knew exactly how many they needed to score for the entire 50 overs so how that scored was amassed is irrelevant. If India had batted better then they would have won but they didn't. England fans could just as easily point to various events and say that England would have won by more if it had happened differently. Dhoni himself said that they would have won if he and Raina had stuck around and he's probably right. You could then say that it's their fault India lost and they would have won if those two hadn't got out.

on January 12, 2013, 11:36 GMT

Shan156: Ok COOL Agree with your point of winning a TEST series in Aus, Eng, SA.
All sub-continent teams want to thrive in that conditions.
Let us see if Pak can deliver in SA. I am not sure of that though. :|

on January 12, 2013, 10:55 GMT

Dhoni lost us the match... To start off with 5 off 14balls, he put immense pressure on Raina and eventually cost his wicket and then played a RUBBISH shot to get himself out... He needs to understand one thing i.e, he is no more the finisher and has to step up in the batting order... If he needs time to settle then he should be at that No 3 or 4 position otherwise India is gonna keep losing such crucial matches!!!

on January 12, 2013, 10:43 GMT

India faced difficulties with the top order against Pakistan.Here, they came back well. A perfect pitch to get back in form. Gambhir,Yuvi, and Raina coming back to form after a guilty performance later.
whether to go with seven specialist batsmen or not was the key for the India in this pitch.He decide to go for a all rounder with Jaddu.He has proved effective with the ball, but isn't quite the No. 7 batsman needed when a high-scoring game is headed towards a tight finish. Yuvi, raina got out when the team needed them most, not coverting their scores till the last run. Gambhir had enough with the bat as an opener with a strike rate of 100.Kumar had some talent with the bat, a good sign for india.Ishant hasn't featured regularly in the one-day side for around three years, and in Rajkot he showed why.Ishant was picked as an experienced bowler,but not showing his commitment,the take young blood Shami Ahmed, showed some commitment.As new bloods are coming a new leader in the cards.

palfeb31987
on January 12, 2013, 10:26 GMT

Been a long time since Gambhir has played a substantial innings. He is too arrogant and takes his place for granted in the Indian XI. Its high time that he is dropped and Raina is given a chance to open the innings. Raina is a good attacking player and a decent player of Fast bowling sans the bouncer at times which he has to work on. Has the ability to clear the field and has a wide array of strokes to prosper at the top of the line up.
As all of you vouched, i just cant comprehend why Pujara is not included when he is in the form of his life. Same with Shami Ahmed who was terrific in his debut match. Doesn't India deserve the best? I am becoming sick of Dhoni's preferential treatment and his overall captaincy.
Irfan is a still a decent player if he plays to half of his potential. Ashwin has to perform consistently(Probably this series is the last chance), else he has to be excluded from the Indian Team.
My Line up: Rahane,Raina,Pujara,Kohli,Yuvi,Dhoni,Irfan,Ashwin,Bhuvi,Yadav, Shami

on January 12, 2013, 10:06 GMT

Even the state team (ranji) can beat this england team as happend in both the practice game...something seriously wrong with team composition and the mind set of the players. Dhoni pls take a break from cricket for sometime...

on January 12, 2013, 10:02 GMT

india r u ready for another humilation by brit lad????????????????????????

on January 12, 2013, 10:01 GMT

main problems with indians is this they r flat pitch bullies and if these bullies fail than...............they humilated by world

on January 12, 2013, 9:59 GMT

INDIA should strat playing with athopia,scotland,switzerland....dont play with afghanistan,zimbabwe,or such teams like bangladesh

on January 12, 2013, 9:53 GMT

I don't understand why Ashwin in indian team as batsman or bowler .. India is repeating same thing as they did with irfan he was a good bowler he become allrounder and now he is nothing .. same goes with ashwin he should know his place in team as a bowler not as a allrounder..

CricketingStargazer
on January 12, 2013, 9:43 GMT

Lessons from the game: (1) don't just England on their warm-up matches, (2) don't write-off India, (3) both sides have to address big weaknesses in game 2. Who addresses the weaknesses best will win the series.

on January 12, 2013, 9:26 GMT

sachin needs to be back opening the innings. Team indian need guidance from the best talent it has. As the best batter during the last 23 years, he should be installed as captain to mentor the younger players

Professor.Biscuit.Khan
on January 12, 2013, 9:08 GMT

@ Born2WatchCricket - LOL. Nice comment regarding Pak's batting. But its not as weak as you think. Except Misbah and Azhar Ali, I don't see any batsman even crossing 50. And the over-hyped Jamshed might have scored tons against Ind recently but he was clearly uncomfortable against B. Kumar who was swinging the ball both ways. SO thinking that, he would do the same against Steyn, Philander, Kallis and Morkel who consistently swing the ball with pace, is nothing but deceiving yourself. Now comes Younis Khan, he too was uncomfortable against Swing bowling in India. Lets see if rises to the occasion, I doubt though. As I said before, only Misbah and Azhar can give some fight. And where's that guy who puts green cream on his lips and looks ugly ... yes Umar AKmal, he didn't even get selected lol. some of the pak fans were calling him the 'World's Best Young Batsman' and even comparing him with Kohli lol. good one PCB, these guys shld learn discipline first. 3-0 or 2-1 in favour of SA.

JustTalkCricket
on January 12, 2013, 9:03 GMT

The result looks a narrow margin but reality is England won comprehensive despite of fluke and edgy runs scored by Yuvraj and Gambhir.

Yuvraj innings was all heaves on onside typical tailender shots scared of fast furious short bowling hopping on the crease very nervous and uncofortable.

India is lucky that Swan is taking break otherwise one can imaging if these guys can't handle Treadwell what would damage Swan would have done

I am still counting... home ground one fluke win against Pak in dead rubber otherwise 4 in 4 and their media still dreaming of 5-0 win against England to reach at number one.

Good luck guys.

hhillbumper
on January 12, 2013, 8:57 GMT

Good win by England.Should dump Dernbach for Woakes, Kieswetter for Butler. And to all you Indian fans how does it feel to lose to us at our worst form of the game?

As for Randy Oz when was the last time your team picked a real Australian?

colombo_SL
on January 12, 2013, 8:33 GMT

While appreciating good cricket from England, I feel this Indian team can perform well in the next matches. They badly need a win for a turnaround. I also feel that Indian team has got a big disadvantage due to busy schedule. Number of matches in a row. SL, NZ, England, Inbetween Pak, again England. It has affected them really well. This may be due to IPL (may be....). SL is also making everything complex due to SLPL. Imitation of IPL.

Indian_Cricket_Fanatic
on January 12, 2013, 8:28 GMT

...Indian bowling was well disappointing and giving 38 odd runs in the last two overs cost us the match....As far as batting is concerned, considering for abroad tours players with technical susceptibilities should be wisely choosen. But on indian conditions any good indian batsman won't disappoint. Be it pujara or kohli or gambhir or even dhawan or mukund or tiwary...won't make much a difference here...And not giving players confidence would just make them more insecure...
SACK FLETCHER! HE SEEMS USELESS! GET GANGULY AS COACH AND GET A GOOD BOWLING COACH! ALAN DONALD ? WASIM AKRAM? IDK! BUT GET ONE THERE lol...
Coach's role are not limited to correct the techniques but they play a vital role in forming a team balance and giving team a motive and fletcher seems to be far too introverted and safe-play in that sense to even give out few opinions of his own.....

on January 12, 2013, 8:26 GMT

Plz with request put our India A Team or Delhi Who won their practice match againest Englend. otherwise England can whitewash to India if we play like last
match

colombo_SL
on January 12, 2013, 8:20 GMT

@EnglishCricket; yes your team performed well. But there was a period when you lost a test series 0-5 to Australia & lost a one day series 0-5 to Sri Lanka. There are some bad periods in cricket for particular countries. But you have overcome that & deserved to be the No.1 cricket team in world. ( Definitely England & SA are the best now). India & SL has the same bad period now. Hope they will overcome from it. You have never won a WC. But SL has done once. Pakistan has done once. India has done twice. But we never say you are so bad. Appreciate your performance these days. Absolutely brillient. I also like to include Ireland among top teams. It is better o give them a go.

Cric_info_pak
on January 12, 2013, 8:19 GMT

this is very unfair ... now how india will win next game ,,, they did not give mom to dhoni for moral boost BCCI ..... hahahahah

tanstell87
on January 12, 2013, 8:15 GMT

India after winning World Cup 2011 playing 7 batsmen & 4 bowlers have gone in with 5 bowlers in every series...the result - lost in England 3-0,could not make CB Series finals,could not make Asia Cup final,could not make World T20 semi-final & lost to Pakistan at home....i don't understand Dhoni's logic,if playing 5 bowlers,the opposition goes onto make 325 then whats the use of playing 5 bowlers??...what is Ashwin doing in the team,he isn't picking wickets since Australia series last year,still he is persisted with...why is Amit Mishra or Rahul Sharma not played?? Jadeja should play at 8 in place of Ashwin...Cricinfo please publish

colombo_SL
on January 12, 2013, 8:08 GMT

Not a bad performance by India. They can take a heart from it. Very good than the Sri Lankans performance yesterday. Bowling is the key for you in the next match. Hope you can win next & tie the series.

on January 12, 2013, 7:53 GMT

Such an ill omen that DHONI was not MoM because he scored 32 runs and did helluva job of captaincy in the match. DHONI was the original MoM

CandidIndian
on January 12, 2013, 7:51 GMT

Congrats Eng fans, full credit to England.Many sensible fans mentioned earlier that India A side ,even good Ranji sides can compete better than team India currently and it turned out to be true. Dhoni as usual made lot of mistakes,Dinda was bowling well and he is much better death bowler than Ishant but Dhoni kept him back and Ishant gave 33 runs in his last 2 overs. India needs a specialist spinner not half cooked ones.Also there are too many stroke makers in the team,we need someone who can hold one end firmly. Virat used to do that and hence India chased big totals earlier,now he is out of form so someone else should take up that responsibility.Lastly Gambhir has extremely poor technique now and he will be a sitting duck once Eng bowlers get some help from pitches in coming matches.Pujara should be given chance in place of Gautam.

CricketTheorist
on January 12, 2013, 7:49 GMT

Contrary to all-round Dinda bashing, Dhoni might have missed a trick when he replaced current Team India's best death bowler with an inexperienced Kumar. Those extra runs eventually made the difference and till he was taken off, Dinda's last spell was KP and Morgan for 22 in 3 overs. His not getting wickets in early overs is becoming a concern though.

Why should Virat Kohli not make way for Pujara? Kohli's form has been terrible to say the least.

on January 12, 2013, 7:45 GMT

well everyone is bashing indian team for not selecting some key players like shami(he actually impressed me with his swinging deliveries in the last match against Pakistan) and pujara( who played very well against Eng in test matches) but i do believe (to be honest) it was fair balanced game. Both the teams played very well keeping in view the flat track....Well, in my opinion, the thing that changed the result was the toss..Had dhoni won the toss and scored the odd 325 runs, would patel have scored his 44 runs inning to seal victory for Eng(in pressure this time)?

Engr.TahirShah
on January 12, 2013, 7:11 GMT

Sorry India. You'll be a complete failure this series as well. May be a consolation win come your way at the end. This team doesn't possess the guts to challenge teams like South Africa, Pakistan, England, Australia, even Bangladesh will be a tough opposition for them. Just be merry at the WC win. This might be enough for a couple of years more.

on January 12, 2013, 7:09 GMT

whats happened to the indian selectors. why they dropped that young man shami ahmed who bowled really well against pakistan who were favourite to win that low scoring game.And can some 1 tell me about dinda. Is he a fast bowler????? can't swing the bowl can't bowl yorkers cant bowl slow.Shami ahmed is much better than dinda. And one more thing about Sir Ravindra Jadeja. :p .. he is a brilliant allrounder who cannot bat , can't bowl . may b a 1st ever allrounder who have such qualities.So indians should be proud on him..

UaHO
on January 12, 2013, 7:08 GMT

Ok, Why is everyone hating on the indian team right now, posting they should make changes. It's true the Indian team has had bad time for the past years, but doesn't mean they are not good. True fan is who sticks with his team through good and bad times. The indian batting line up is good, and the bowling can get better. B Kumar is the swinger, and S Ahmed can bowl good too. There are our future bowlers and right now they are learning to grow. Also, India needs irfan back and maybe harbhajan because they both can bowl and bat. I am a fan of the indian team and will always be.

on January 12, 2013, 7:05 GMT

BOWLERS BOWLERS !!!! No world class bowlers. One good, Just Good, Bowler won it for England. Find some good bowlers for India. They have to do something about it and do it fast. Batsmen did good by making 316 though this line up should have made this score. but just a bit of good bowling could help.

surz
on January 12, 2013, 6:41 GMT

All those who are rooting for pujara. plz tell me where will he be accomadated in the playin 11. Will he be 3 rd down, then in that case where will kohli go. If one bowler is reduced to accomodate pujara then we will concede another 30 runs extra. This bowling lineup is inexperienced, they need time to stick together and play as a unit. The pitch was also had nothing for the bowlers. This team is improving, they showed the intent to win the match. This is a positive sign and it is just a matter of time before they go to the winning ways. I personally fell we should change the physio and other support staff, rather than the coach. Who from my point is strategically good at grooming talents, without hampering their skills.

madhu-82
on January 12, 2013, 6:33 GMT

Team for next match should be pujara, rahane, kohli, yuvi, dhoni, raina, jadeja, kumar, mishra, shami ahmed, dinda. in next two matches if this combination wont deliver the result then dhoni can go back to his trusted ashwin who out smarted batsman in IPL but failing misrably in international matches.

YorkshirePudding
on January 12, 2013, 6:30 GMT

To be fair this game could have gone either way, and comes down to 10 dot balls that indiea dient get a single off. England have a few concerns like a quality second spinner to bowl with Tredwell/Swann. Batting wise Patels rapid scoring in the last 2 overs (SR 222) is what changed the game.

I still think that India are still favorites for a series win.

Solid_Snake
on January 12, 2013, 6:22 GMT

I a surprised to see such a dead track..I wonder where all such pitches disappeared when Pakistan was on tour :P
Same happened with NZ was on tour to India..Same high scoring matches mostly 300+ runs..But with Pakistan there,it seemed like playing in England or South Africa lol

jmcilhinney
on January 12, 2013, 6:09 GMT

@Trickstar on (January 11 2013, 19:49 PM GMT), it was obvious that the ball touched the ground when Bresnan caught Raina. The ball was still wholly within Bresnan's hand but the ball was obviously touching the ground too. In rugby league, the TV ref would have called that a try so a cricket umpire can't call it out. It was lucky for Raina and unlucky for Bresnan but I think the correct decision was made. As for Dinda catching Morgan, the ball obviously came loose but there was no actual evidence that it touched the ground. Dinda claimed the catch and I'm sure that he believed that he'd taken it but it may have touched the ground without his realising it. I'm not sure what the appropriate rule is on that, i.e. whether they should take the bowler's word unless there's evidence to the contrary or there has to be specific proof that the catch was taken. Fortunately it didn't matter in the end, but I would had no issue with the way those decisions went anyway.

on January 12, 2013, 5:43 GMT

@Lahori92 ha ha! loved your wit and sarcasm. Well played both teams. India got very close to victory. India should definitely play shikhar dhavan in the next match, maybe drop Virat kohli for one match after all he has consistently not been performing for the past couple of matches.

on January 12, 2013, 5:26 GMT

Everyone seems to be vying for Dinda's head here, but apparently on flat pitches against attacking batsmen in tough situations, he has been the best of the Indian fast bowlers; remember that second T2- against Pak when he turned the game on its head. Again, in yesterday's match he was the peak of the Indian pacers. Bhuwaneshwar Kumar is a condition bowler. Given favorable conditions, he will destroy any opposition but on sporting pitches or flat pitches, he is simply useless, as was proved in the second T20 against Pak, the second ODI against Pak and again yesterday. Like many other so called slow medium pacers with a gift of swing.. read Pravin Kumar, he too would be lost in oblivion sooner than later....

veerakannadiga
on January 12, 2013, 5:16 GMT

Belated Happy B'day Rahul Dravid. Happy to see India lose fighting, not at all disappointed.Perfect one dayer. Well played India. Congrats England. All & sundry in the commentary box were crucifying India's bowling (with reason), but in the end even the English bowlers were taken to the cleaners. The difference between the two sides was - Tredwell. God Bless us all. AMEN.from a loyal Dravid fan.

AVRAJAN
on January 12, 2013, 5:00 GMT

India lost the match because of Raina and Dhoni. How? Wait... Wait... See Raina scored 50 of 49 deliveries with 7 fours. That means he had scored 28 runs from 7 balls and balance 22 runs of 41 deliveries ( 49minus 7). Similarly Dhoni had scored 32 of 25 deliveries with 4 sixes. That means he had scored 24 of just 4 deliveries and balance 8 runs from 21 balls. So it is not sixes and fours that matters but rotating the strike with singles. How is it?

Quddus-Mamu
on January 12, 2013, 4:55 GMT

Dhoni scored 32 runs and still no man of the match trophy? That's ridiculous.

lukecannon
on January 12, 2013, 4:44 GMT

India should post an Advertisement in the news paper asking who ever wants a series victory in the subcontinent to come and play against India in India. Pakistan are doing great. SL is a powerhouse at home eventhough they are having a tough time downunder. And even Bangladesh are doing extremely well for their standards. India is an embarrasement to the sub-continent. They should be stripped off their test status so that they can play IPL all year instead. It's what they want anyway.

lukecannon
on January 12, 2013, 4:41 GMT

Current Indian team is a bunch of jokers. These guys pose to so many commercials and say stuff like "Aane do". Lol can't even win at home. England are going to take this series 4-1 . That's my prediction. BCCI should also declare Dhoni MOM for the next matches. Shame he couldn't get it y'day for his unforgettable 32.

Sinhaya
on January 12, 2013, 4:32 GMT

@Harmony111, I saw your comments on RoW fans and let me be honest here with you. As a Sri Lankan and as A BIG TIME CRICKET FAN, I am grateful to India for making cricket the 2nd most popular team sport in the world. If not for India cricket is useless really. Cricket still is a global minority sport and therefore, unity among fans is in the best interest of the game. My negative about India is about Srinivasan trying to rule cricket using his iron grip. I know India has not been at it's best lately and good luck for the remainder of the ODI series. Hope Ajinkya Rahane clicks and hope he becomes your test opener soon as he deserves a chance looking at his 60 plus average in the first class setup. I hope the remainder of the ODI series will be exciting.

My negative comments on India especially during last year was also in response to the tirade by some Indian fans who are no angels either. Some Indian fans like rahulcricket007, bhrangi etc I respect big time.

on January 12, 2013, 4:31 GMT

well i am quite astonished to see indian fans wanting to replace gautam ,sehwag,kohli,yuvi an co...you have to admit that you only had the world cup 1983 as a source of pride earlier and now have 2 more world cups as well as the no.1 test ranking which now seems quite far in past...but still these are the players who gave you so many reasons to be proud of...the only thing which is going against india is that all of these players have gone into bad patch altogether...yeah with the occasional good performance just to maintain their place..but as fans you must support your team and back them till the end...

on January 12, 2013, 4:22 GMT

If Tredwell can account for four Indian top-class wickets, why can't Ashwin and Jadeja take one or two wickets each? Why do they have to leak so many runs? They should consult guys like Kumble, Prasanna, Venkat, Chandra, Raju -hey the South is awash with so many spinning greats!- and rectify their problems in time or they would go down the way that Bhajji has gone! It is tragic to see decline in performance. Try yoga, meditation, guys and chant the gaytri mantra! Maybe that will help you.

eraser_1714
on January 12, 2013, 4:18 GMT

It was so much fun seeing the self-proclaimed "Torres" of our Indian team, stop in in delivery stride every second ball, trying to outguess the batsmen. It is about time the team management realizes Ashwin is a mediocre bowler and a terrible fielder. If he is being kept in the team for his batting skills, God save India!

on January 12, 2013, 3:59 GMT

This is the best Indian team could do with not in form pl..
ayers mlike kohli, jadejpa,ashwin,ishaont sharmaa. It is but natural for kohli to concentrated on as to manage his wind fall money.

I do not understand the reasons behind not selecting players like Amith Mishra, Irfanpathan, Praveen kumar and Umesh Yadav.

he main reason for Indian Teams failure is mainly due to the bowers failure..

well played India. better luck in the next match. Please dror players like Kohli,Ashwin,Ishant Shama and Jadeja

Krish1306
on January 12, 2013, 3:58 GMT

Dhoni must promote his Batting order at No.3.. He is a well Smasher..
As a very good bottom hand player he must come ahead to increase the Runs.
More over Kohli should bat at no.5..because he is very good in Rotating the singles.
he can also finish the game successfully.
Indians are struggling to rotate the singles against the Spin.
But Kohli can do it If he come in After 35 Overs.
Execution of good shots is much need against the spin.
there is a lot of difference of Playing with Opening pair and Middle order Batsmen.
So my opinion is " Dhoni should bat up the order"
Kohli should Bat down the Order"
I think its a right move for India..

RandyOZ
on January 12, 2013, 3:56 GMT

Yet another battle of the minnows, this time the United XI getting on top. When will these pointless matches end? True fans want to see the best two teams, Australia and South Africa, battling it out again. With Australia drawing in South Africa and SA just winning in Oz by the skin of their teeth, cricket fans worldwide want to see these two giants battle it out.

crick_wizard
on January 12, 2013, 3:51 GMT

I have had serious doubts about jadeja's utility to the team for a long time now..he really cannot bat at 7 and play the role of an aggressive hard hitting alrounder..and picking him in the team just for his bowling is also not a wise move, since he is not a wicket taking bowler..true that he bowls economically, but if you notice, Dhoni bowls him only in the most favorable phases of the match..he does not bowl in power plays, slog overs or when there are set batsmen or left handlers at the crease..also if a batsman decides to go after him, he can concede huge sixes..since he does not have much variety..with this he does not qualify as a genuine bowler and hence should be dropped.

Romenevans
on January 12, 2013, 3:51 GMT

....and the team is in transition and all the players are young! Young, who? Raina? Gambhir, Kohli, Yuvraj, Dhoni, They all have played 80-200 ODI matches...How long they want to call themselves young and going through transition.

Cpt.Meanster
on January 12, 2013, 3:50 GMT

In spite of the defeat to India, I see a victory for them. Their batting was exceptional and had it not been that awful over from Ishant Sharma where he leaked all those runs, India would have won this one comfortably. Still, there are 4 games remaining in the series and the problem with India right now is that MS Dhoni is ARROGANT in his approach to captaincy and team selection. He's trying the same FAILED players like Jadeja, Raina and Ishant Sharma when he could have played Pujara, Shami Ahmed, and Dinesh Karthik. All three are IMPACT players with FORM behind them. Since this is a home series, why not draft in Abhinav Mukund or Murali Vijay ? It doesn't make sense as an Indian fan to see Dhoni not using his common sense. On that other hand, England are BEATABLE. They were far from convincing even though they won this one. India need to tighten up that bowling and continue the same batting form and they should win the next game. God bless India !

Giant-Guru
on January 12, 2013, 3:49 GMT

A good match though, regardless of the win/loss situation, of course I would have wanted India to have won. A good lesson though we don't usually tend to learn quick....but seriously India need to play Pujara and Shami for the 2nd ODI, they may not be the Dhoni's favorites but selectors and the captain needs to put their personal choices behind and only think of the nation.

nyc_missile
on January 12, 2013, 3:47 GMT

@Harmony111 I am not saying there is anything wrong in planning to ease them out but the suspicious manner in which it was done and the motives for it.Dhoni's insecurity about captaincy meant he did not pay heed to Sehwag's repeated requests to play in middle order..He played on their minds which didn't help them one bit as they were already in bad form.Also I am not parochial.Dhoni is.Apart from his favorites,Raina,Jadeja & to some extent Rohit in ODIs he has mishandled all other talented players.I do not see a single quality in him captain which inspires his team mates;worse relying on tosses,pitches,climates,evolving rules of the game make him an expert in excuse making..everything but his own stupid tactics,negative mindset,utter listlessness on the field.He is a terrific ODI player and a below-par test batsman.I wonder why he is still the captain given his inability to inspire players..

on January 12, 2013, 3:44 GMT

Rule# 1. Never seen such a slacky & unfit player in the Indian side. India need to get rid of this useless Ishant Sharma. He is absolutely a burden to the Indian team and should go immediately. Quite surprising his existence in the team still. He is not even qualified to play for Delhi team.

bhrangi
on January 12, 2013, 3:43 GMT

We have to defeat Cook to defeat England it seems, Cook is world class batsman and captain, I never saw him sledging other players and such a calm gentle cricketer. I became big fan for Cook from last Test series. Hoping for the competitive series @ brusselslion : Yeah we have such beloved neighbors they will be like ' Anyone but India' in every match. I have to blame my fella Indians, their attitude is entirely different when we are winning , like thrash talk about the opponents we are reaping what we Sow before.

AKmAK
on January 12, 2013, 3:41 GMT

Its very obvious that why India lost this match. The only man is responsible for this loss is Dhoni. I can't digest the logic that why he allowed 10 over to Ishant(he is player but not cricket), esp in death overs eventhough he was the most expensive since his first over. Dinda was bowling well at that time and not allowed him to bowl his full quota. Its something suspecious in Dhoni's approches as he call an inexperienced bowler to bowl the final over and was'nt allowed the most economic bowler (Raina) after his 5th over. Smells something in the backyard.. So Pls Authorities keep'n eye on these stupidities or people would hate this game very soon..Bare in mind No one is beyond Cricket and cricket ONLY made-up of these hooligans.

on January 12, 2013, 3:31 GMT

congrats to English team. Once again Indian squad proved they are too much dependent on Dhoni. When Dhoni enters as 4th or 5th batsman, he does not get enough time to carry India through, since pressure to score as many runs as possible in the last overs mounts stress and he gets exhausted running in between the wickets. Why can't he open the innings and bat till the last assuring he gets enough time to carry India through the innings?? Also, the recognised Indian bowlers are proving futile once again when the part time bowlers like Raina etc are not conceding many runs and capturing wickets. Something is basically/drastically wrong within the Indian team which should be rectified immediately to pave way to the ensuing world cup.

CurrentPresident
on January 12, 2013, 3:23 GMT

When your most effective bowler bowls only 5 overs and the least effective one his full quota, you know you have an incompetent captain.

When you lost last five series without a fight, you know you have an incompetent captain.

In a private company, Dhoni would have been fired long ago. The only reason he has survived is because the Indian cricket administration is sick with politics. This is what will kill Indian cricket.

He is so insecure that he is only comfortable with his coterie. You can see the Indian cricket team resembles Indian politics with all its coalitions and cliques.

Sehwag and Gambhir kept under-performing for so long, they actually forgot how to bat. Their hope that all the failures will kick Dhoni out and make them the captain, didn't materialize, since Dhoni has political backing of the BCCI boss.

There really isn't a solution. Indians will be Indians...

mux164
on January 12, 2013, 3:15 GMT

ashwin=over rated. more like ash whine. Majority of the indian team is over rated

shovwar
on January 12, 2013, 2:59 GMT

Keep ur feet grounded and be humble when your winning cos things always duzn stay the same. The indian team i am looking at would be on the receiving end for few years to come.

KiwiRocker-
on January 12, 2013, 2:37 GMT

Hindsight is a beautiful thing.These desktop cricketers sitting behind the screens are criticizing Dhoni for his selection. Same crowd was hailing Dhoni as greatest Indian captain not too long ago. Dhoni's four bowler strategy in World cup was touted as a master stroke when flat wickets, advantageous schedule, special SG brand balls,DRS and short boundaries helped India win WC. Dhoni has done nothing wrong with the selection in this match.Dhoni picked Dinda for his variations and death bowling and Dinda picked two set batsmen.Jadeja was India's best bowler on show.Gambhir scored half century.Pujara is not a miracle worker to save Indian cricket. Poor man was roughed up by likes of Dale Steyn in SA. Shami has played one ODI.Same fans who had overhyped Bhuvenesh are now pinning hopes on one match veteran Shami.Indian fans and selectors play on reputations.The player who should be dropped is Virat Kohli has has scored 13 runs in series against Pak and failed here too & so should Ashwin!!

reeja
on January 12, 2013, 2:30 GMT

man of the match not dhoni ???

on January 12, 2013, 2:14 GMT

I feel pity for dhoni as he did not get man of the match award which he deserved. He picked two outstanding allrounders. Ashwin the greater allrounder can not either ball or bat or for that matter field properly and Jadeja unfortunately can field though he can not bat or ball.Selection of Dinda, the high jumper over Shami was a master stroke.

on January 12, 2013, 2:10 GMT

without viru India can not win this score, its not going to happen, I was sure that India will loose the series badly like test, than do not blame that opener is not doing good...... its only due to poor selection of team in test and one day as well .....its shame... on selection......jadega.....,yuvi was bolling better than jadega in one day....

BnH1985Fan
on January 12, 2013, 2:01 GMT

Oh -- what happened to the 2 losses England suffered before this ODI? Everyone was under the impression they would fold like they did in those 2. May be they play 'bit' differently when the marbles do count ...

Nish_US
on January 12, 2013, 1:52 GMT

@InsideHedge

How tall is Dinda? I think he is not tall enough to be a pace bowler and so makes that jump to gain some vertical momentum to get some bounce....may be a far fetched and impractical idea...but who knows..

on January 12, 2013, 1:51 GMT

India is very lucky that England left home Monty Panessar. They may send for him before the series is finished!

Nish_US
on January 12, 2013, 1:48 GMT

@Harmony1111

No issues giving chances to gambir... forget about his scores.. did he show any improvement in playing outside off... I still see the same poking and prodding since ENG test series... time and again.. no foot movement... neither forward or backward.. always trying to guide down to thirdman, as it there is an easy four...

He looks unsure of his offstump and is completely misjuding the length....

Let him go back to domestic cricket, get those feet moving, get the confidence to play straight back... and come back strong

Nish_US
on January 12, 2013, 1:43 GMT

Dhoni "You have to make sure someone bats at one end and others rotate around him. "

Wonder who could have held one end?

on January 12, 2013, 1:42 GMT

A cruel joke on the Indian fans if anything.Dinda in for Shami Ahmed...a pathetic substitution.Dinda is good enough for domestic cricket...period. So is Jadeja.Jadeja will be easy meat on pitches in Australia and NZ.Ashwin is an all-rounder who cannot field and cannot hit the ball when needed in limited overs cricket.Ashwin is not a specialist bowler. Let's not fool ourselves about his abilities in limited over cricket as Ashwin is a pedestrian on the field as well in this format.What was the logic behind playing Jadeja and Ashwin together.Any answers? Any comments on the exclusion of Pujara from the playing X!.Not that he would have won the match for India after the pathetic bowling effort.Dhoni is fast losing respect even in this format and owes us an explanation on the selections.India may well end up selecting Sehwag for the next World Cup....I still do not see a single Indian batsman to match his batting ability though he is a liability on the field.

on January 12, 2013, 1:41 GMT

I feel so sorry for INDIANS. great side on the paper, but still no consistent bowlers. the reason Money. they get loads of cash playing for the IPL and INDIAN commercials. and no planning. play every match like T20. no respect for the bowlers.
I think DHONI and RAINA. only 2 batsmen playing with responsibly. and should have 3 Different for 3 different format. like South Africa. you might loose some matches but then you have a great pool of talents. rather then playing SHEWAG. GHAMBIR.
ISHANT. JADEJA. otherwise its for INDIA beginning of the end.

mxnmxn
on January 12, 2013, 1:20 GMT

I have not watched this game. But I can comment as a cricket fan. Now people should be talking about making Dhoni as a captain. No point in removing him at this moment - the damage is already done. Players like Sachin, Dravid, Laxman and many others had to part with little or no glory ... willingly or unwillingly. Thank you Dhoni & IPL fans!

on January 12, 2013, 1:04 GMT

Magnificent game: a sterling effort by England to travel way beyond their regular batting comfort zone by racking up 325, followed by a valiant & full-blooded assault by India. For me, the highlight of the match was seeing the clownish Ashwin's ridiculous attempts to cheat by pausing at the point of delivery punished so mercilessly by England. If Ashwin (a cricketer for whom I've all respect recently) has to resort to such desperate measures in order to mask the fact that he's incapable of actually spinning the ball, wouldn't India be better off selecting a player who *can* tweak it a little bit?

A lot of in-fighting among the Indian fans over Dhoni's captaincy, I see. From a neutral perspective, it's an easy call. He seems unable to motivate his players anymore, his selections (not including Pujara or Shami Ahmed here, for example) are bizarre at best, & his bowling changes are entirely formulaic. Purely as a player, he's great; as a captain, however, he's a busted flush. Time to go.

OceanM
on January 12, 2013, 1:01 GMT

15 people playing for the national side and none of them are fit to be a captain except so called captain by default. Makes you wonder how did they even make it to the national team. Something is seriously wrong with the team selections or politics/corruption in indian cricket.

Giant-Guru
on January 12, 2013, 0:58 GMT

We are so good at it, when it comes to loosing matches. This match would have been won but for the poor captaincy...when Raina was bowling so good where was the need to try the so-called Indian Quicks, Dhoni should have let Raina bowl 10 overs and tried Yuvraj too. Dhoni's liking for Ashwin is immense but Ashwin's performance has diminished in recent times, he is not seen as a threat by any batsmen today, leave him to find form in domestic circuit. The team management has to find place for Shami Ahmed and Pujara in the team both are promising yound players....but they chose Dinda? who I think aimlessly throws the ball without knowing where it is going. Need to find a fix before they take a 2-0 lead.

Punjami
on January 12, 2013, 0:45 GMT

Matches have to be won by scoring runs and taking wickets. Right But what about strategy. Why has MSD gone bankupt on ideas. Why was not Yuvraj given a bowl? He was the pick of our "spinners" against Pak!!!! Yuvi is a workhorse and can take any load and role. If you go by stat also, may be he would have had more wickets than Jadeja. . . Ashwin should also be reminded that he is a bowler who can bat and not a batsman who cannot bat or bowl! Wicketless initial overs and leaking of plenty in the end overs, the batsmen will have a mountain to climb. Get the combination right MSD before it is too late. Country's pride at stake.

Manush
on January 12, 2013, 0:41 GMT

England put up a good Team effort in all departments and defended well in the small stadium on a batsmen friendly pitch. Ishant Sharma must be facing the music from his team mates !!! Good start by England and Giles

ultimatewarrior
on January 12, 2013, 0:15 GMT

There are many 100's of comments are posted by cricket fans here...no. of persons are asking the team should be this and that, can somebody tell me what should be the selection criteria for any player selection in your opinion.....

Al_Bundy1
on January 12, 2013, 0:06 GMT

If you are winning, it doesn't make any sense to change your team. But if you are losing (which is what India has been doing for the past 2 years), you have to tweak your team, and keep tweaking until you start winning again.

Al_Bundy1
on January 12, 2013, 0:02 GMT

It's time to "rest" Kohli for a couple of games. Let Pujara play instead of Kohli and Shami Ahmed instead of Ishant Sharma.

ultimatewarrior
on January 11, 2013, 23:56 GMT

@Harmony111 viewing your some comments Dhoni, I want to highlight his few mistakes like (1)he not tried Yuvi in bowling(good records against England) (2) (a) when dinda has picked the momentum in death overs he was replaced by bhuvnesh who eventually given 26 runs in 2 overs(b)when ishant has LOST the momentum in death overs he was given one more last over which leaked 20runs (3)raina too was bowling well why he had not given few overs more in place of trying ashwin again in late overs (4)he was little late than usual to bring spinners even when his fast bowlers were ineffective in first 25 overs(5)As Harsha said Virat is to bowl is like Chris Martin is to Bat, so why even 1 over.....EVEN WITH THIS TEAM INDIA MAY HAVE WON THE MATCH......

Front-Foot-Lunge
on January 11, 2013, 23:53 GMT

Bell has long been the most aesthetically pleasing batsmen to watch in the world, but has famously struggled to convert his prestigious talent into something great (despite having 17 test hundreds and a test average of 47 to his name). Today he played like one of the best in the world. Alistair Cook, on the other hand, played as the best in the world.

KiwiRocker-
on January 11, 2013, 23:08 GMT

This is a hiding if you ask me. England is without Jimmy, Swann and Broad so one will call it an English'A'team.One must also feel sorry for Indian fans( Poor Harmony111 who has typed 101 comments). These fans are desperate to see a light at end of tunnel. Bhuvenshwarwas able to nail down batsmen with suspect techniques such as Akmals etc, however, when he came up against English batting on flat surface, as I had predicted, he was taken to cleaners. He looked totally ineffective. Sadly, same thing will happen to Sham.These bowlers are overhyped.ICC rankings are flawed as we all know and really neither England (with current attack) nor India belong to Big3 club in ODI( Australia, SA and Pakistan). This is a battle of minnows!I disagree that India is in transition.What Indian batsmen is inexperienced?Even Rahane has been around for couple of years.Indian bowling is in transition? Yes, thats because India has no bowlers at benches!Irfan Pathan is tried, tested and failed for a decade!

sreek09
on January 11, 2013, 22:55 GMT

India A and Delhi easily beat England, but national team is struggling bcos selectors and MSD are still living on the past. This team is filled with worthless players like Jadeja, Rohit and ineffective fast bowlers. It's high time the selectors do the job they are paid for, rather than being puppets.

Alexk400
on January 11, 2013, 22:47 GMT

I heard dravid said Dhoni should have got his MOM just for his captaincy and leadership. he is arguing endlessly. I wonder about dravid state of mind now. Is he sane?

Harmony111
on January 11, 2013, 22:38 GMT

@samincolumbia:

Ishant is, well, a talented bowler with no intention to use that talent. He doesn't learn cos he got a confused brain inside his skull.

Dinda is, well, a limited skill bowler with no intention to widen that skill set. He can't learn cos he got no brain inside his skull.

Jadeja actually plays a very imp role. He allows Ind to minimize the damage done were they to play with one bowler less or one batsman less. He hardly ever gets any time during his batting and even though he is a limited skills bowler he goes just a shade below the ok-ok level.

If I was Fletcher the least I would do is to cut off the 5 kgs of hairs Ishant is carrying when he sleeps in night. I mean what is the point of being fashionable or being stylish to sport a mullet when you can't bowl a single good ball?

With bowlers like Ishant and Dinda and lazy ones like Zak on bench, what can Dhoni do? Yadav bowled in 1 test match and is now injured, ditto for Aaron --- so delicate these days.

cyborg
on January 11, 2013, 22:31 GMT

this game could be the stepping stone for Ian bell after all , but dont count india out on this

Nampally
on January 11, 2013, 22:28 GMT

@Harmony111:Pujara has played 61 ODI games at the List A level & has an average of 57. Pujara having no experience in ODI -you are wrong. As for Pujara's form, he averaged 87 against England in 4 Tests. He won the only Test for India against England. To cap it off he scored a double century & a triple century (at Rajkot) in 2 consecutive Ranji matches @S/R of 94. Name one Indian batsman even close to this form. Kohli was hot but he failed miserabley against Pakistan with a total of 13 in 3 ODI's. He failed with 15 against England.On a flat Rajkot wkt. not one of Indian batsmen scored a century with 61 highest score. This is not the batting India had in the past. I named 5 bowlers- Shami, Kumar, Ashwin,Jadeja, Raina + Yuvi. 4 of these bowled 35 overs today - Shami & Yuvi excluded. The best bowlers today - Jadeja + Raina 63 runs in 15 overs. Dinda & Ishant gave 155 runs in 20 overs - main reason for 325 total.How did you"cook up" a Total 425 is mystery -You are in dreamland Sir!

Quddus-Mamu
on January 11, 2013, 22:26 GMT

I'm totally agreed with EnglishCricket. India should play more games with Zimbabwe,Ireland and Afghanistan. England team is too strong for current Indian team. This is becoming one sided game.

mikey76
on January 11, 2013, 22:15 GMT

...as opposed to Australia's import Khawaja not doing the bulk of the work against Sri Lanka eh Randy. If a dog was born in a stable you wouldn't call it a horse! Selectors, swap Keiswetter for Bairstow, Meaker for Dernbach then you have a much stronger side. Well played Patel, he won't be a test player, but he's a highly effective limited overs player, especially in the sub-continent.

EnglishCricket
on January 11, 2013, 22:13 GMT

I feel so sorry for teams like Ireland who clearly deserve to be part of the elite. I'm sure they would've put up a much better fight against England even beat them like the last World Cup where they managed to chase down more than 330 and India can't against England. Really hope such teams get their wish instead of ordinary India :D

Shan156
on January 11, 2013, 22:11 GMT

@jmcilhinney on (January 11 2013, 16:05 PM GMT), excellent reply to @Deva83. I don't know how you manage to reply patiently to all these trolls who seem to imagine things like England fans claiming we are great when I don't see a single post where we claim that we are. Perhaps we should start every message with a statement that we don't think England are great:-)

samincolumbia
on January 11, 2013, 22:10 GMT

@Harmony111 - The problem is with Dhoni's selection and not his batting. Ishant, Ashwin, Jadeja - What have they done of late or ever in an ODI to justify persisting with them series after series?

Harmony111
on January 11, 2013, 22:05 GMT

@nyc_missile: So as per you Sehwag is a slacker, Gambhir lives on borrowed time yet Dhoni would be wrong if he planned to ease them out? TBH, I wanted Sehwag out right after CB Series, his value was very low in team at that time - but he got a lot of time to recover. Gambhir deserves some chances for sure.

And pls open your eyes, Dhoni today dropped Shami to play Dinda - a Kolkata player. Stop being so parochial that you start mentioning CSK in a Team India context. Dhoni is OUR captain and he selects players for OUR team, not CSK players in Ind team.

Shan156
on January 11, 2013, 22:04 GMT

@Venkat Koushikrishnan, when I checked cricinfo today morning, I also noticed that:-)

InsideHedge
on January 11, 2013, 22:03 GMT

@JG2704: No less friendlier than your comments, old chap. I know you like to Police the forum here so I won't waste too much of your time. BTW, I'd hold onto your sympathies till the series is over.

@samincolumbia:
Agreed about Ishant, we all know he's useless, or according to Eric Simons he's simply unlucky. However, don't be fooled by Dinda taking two wickets, if you're going to compare any bowler with Ishant, you're lowering the standards dramatically. At least Ishant has a fluid bowling action, I'm snot sure what Dinda is attempting when he makes that vertical leap, is he trying out for the high jump in the next Olympics?

Lahori92
on January 11, 2013, 21:59 GMT

I am absolutely gutted that Dhoni didn't win the man of the award for his 32, something dodgy is going on hahahaha

Summit_07
on January 11, 2013, 21:59 GMT

Some consolation, at least not a big defeat for India. Some worthy changes, in my view.

1. Jadeja must GO! Totally worthless and I don''t get his position in the team. He clearly cannot perform as a batsman, and for his bowling skills, he's hardly a wicket taking bowler. Ashwin is a much better all rounder, and so is Irfan Pathan!
2. Worth giving Shami Ahmed a chance over Dinda
3. Pujara, Rahane can be tried out alternately.

Shan156
on January 11, 2013, 21:54 GMT

@mazii, Pak had Aamer and Asif playing for them then. They are not part of the team now, are they? Do you honestly believe that the current Pak. pace attack is the 2nd best attack in the world?

Also, re: Ajmal, he is an excellent spinner, no doubt. But, let him first prove himself in all conditions before we club him alongside Warne and Murali.

Shan156
on January 11, 2013, 21:50 GMT

@Mohd Shahbaz, please point out where I claim that I have great cricket knowledge. I was replying to a Pak. fan who claimed that Pak. has the 2nd best pace attack after SA and the best spin attack. Surely, you need to prove yourself outside the UAE. Again, I said in tests. All the wins you quoted were in ODIs and T20s. Yes, Pak. won a test in England against England and 1 against Australia. But, they are *yet* to prove themselves all around the world in test matches - how many series have they won in Aus or Eng or SA or Ind of late? It has been 16 years since they won a series in England, 25 years in India, never won in Aus. and SA. If you believe honestly that Pak. has the 2nd best pace attack in the world, let's talk numbers please not potential. Aamer and Asif were good but they are not playing now are they? If someone honestly thinks that Junaid/Gul/Irfan are the 2nd best pace attack in the world (talking tests only), then they are deluding themselves.

nyc_missile
on January 11, 2013, 21:49 GMT

@Harmony111-For most part,fair enough..but if you think there is nothing between MSD& Gambhir ,MSD& Sehwag,got to be kidding me! I don't need news channels confirmation,it shows on the field and faces.For eg,agreed Sehwag is a slacker and it hurts the team,but is he the only one who caused the defeat to Pak? Why drop just him ? Gambhir is also living on borrowed time and MSD 's eventual goal is to ease out all his competitors and fill the team up with CSK boys and continue with his rudderless captaincy forever.Take care and I do hope Ind will be back to winning ways with anyone else BUT DHONI as captain.

Ishant Sharma was bowling spear head in this team and he leaked no gushed runs. Raina is a part timer and can sneak in a few overs economically. But he can be hit for fours at times and then people will ask why Dhoni ask raina and not Ishant who is main bowler? so its catch twenty two for Dhoni.
But as I have sadi earlier, unless India finds two match winning bowlers this situation will not change. In past Harbhajan and kumble as spinners could win matches on their own. and there were Srinath, Prasad and Zaheer who could bowl well to affect match's outcome. There is no one in current team who could do this. so find a few good bowlers and stop blaming captain.

Harmony111
on January 11, 2013, 21:41 GMT

@JG2704: TBH, I don't really care how well I go with ALL the Eng/Aus/SL fans. For me it isn't even about the nationality. I am smouldering in my seminal vesicles to read the comments of some Ind fans too. And I don't really know why would u say I do/don't go well with other fans. If you talk well and sensible then no matter how opposite it may be to my opinion I would get along well with you. If you talk trash and troll and just want to deride me or my nation then why should I get well with you? I should get even with you in that case. If an Eng fan says "Oh Kohli's 183 was not great cos it came on a flat track" yet fails to explain why no Eng batsman has ever scored that many on other flat tracks then should I love and lick that fan? I've ALWAYS given credit when due but expect the same too but some Guerilla type fans hit and then run off ...

As for max toys (whatever it means to you colloquially), I happen to have a long weekend this time with lots of energy and nothing much to do.

PAK_TIGERS
on January 11, 2013, 21:38 GMT

ohhh how come Dhoni or yuvaj are NOT man of the match ??? or does that only happen when india vs pakistan and still man of the match goes to indian side (moral booster seriously) regardless of someone getting 5 wickets or a century.

Harmony111
on January 11, 2013, 21:30 GMT

@nyc_missile: Did you notice that as per your comments, on one hand the WC wins were not due to Dhoni but due to Yuvi, GG & Sachin and on the other hand the losses in Eng/Aus, failure to get into WT20 SF/F, losing at home to Eng is all due to Dhoni? Dhoni individually was in red hot form vs Pak yet you blame him for this loss too? It is not his fault if other players don't perform. If Ind win it is due to some particular player but if Ind lose then it is all due to Dhoni.

Dhoni is not flawless but give that man some respect and his share of praise. You seem to know just about everything about why and how he dealt with VS and GG in Aus blah blah....this is all due to our great news channels right? You got your sources just right. I am sure you also saw and loved that news report that talked of snowfall in Delhi that turned out to be an ice slab that had fallen off a cycle lol....take care brother.

dmqi
on January 11, 2013, 21:28 GMT

It looks to me that Dhoni has become one man selector. No Pujara in Ist ODI, that was a very strong statement.That make Pujara looks like a cat and Dhoni a tiger. Not good for furure relationship. He should have been diplomatic in his answer rather than dictatorial. Well, MSD you lost the game, right?

JG2704
on January 11, 2013, 21:24 GMT

@R_U_4_REAL_NICK on (January 11 2013, 14:06 PM GMT) Me thinks some of the fans are suffering from a little paranoia

@InsideHedge - Gutted for you after all your friendly well thought out comments in recent months

JG2704
on January 11, 2013, 21:23 GMT

@Trickstar on (January 11 2013, 20:09 PM GMT) To me ODIs are about scoring and SR's. I would not have Cook, Bell and Trott in the same ODI side (as I said last year). Last year I would have had Trott ahead of Bell. Not sure what Trott's SR has been this year compared to what it was like last year but I'd be surprised if it was up there. To me last year he looked able to penetrate the field or rotate the strike. This year when I've watched him he's looked laboured and vice versa with Bell who seems to have improved in ODIs. I'd just prefer to have England have a look at guys like Wright,Hales,Buttler,Taylor etc and have Trott just playing tests. Out of interest who would Trott come back in for in your side?

JG2704
on January 11, 2013, 21:23 GMT

Good game. Both sides showed their qualities and their frailties. Re India - have to say I think some of Dhoni's bowling selections weren't too great. Seemed strange that Raina (the most economical Indian bowler) only bowled half his allocation and with England's usual preference of facing pace...
I still don't think this looks a great England side . We seem to have plenty of batting options/depth but I'm never confident in our bowlers. Re Jade , I love his effort and passion but it often seems the harder he tries the more it goes wrong. All our batsmen did well and Tredwell bowled beautifully. I like the way he uses his variations in pace etc like Swann does.

JG2704
on January 11, 2013, 21:22 GMT

@Harmony111 on (January 11 2013, 19:57 PM GMT) Are you going for the record of throwing the most toys out of a pram and arguing with the most people in a few hours? Re "he has in the past accused me of being provocative and harsh when dealing with RoW fans esp Eng, SL and Aus fans" - It's a good job we can see how you get on so well with all the Eng/Aus/SL fans for ourselves. Still it was nice to see you giving credit too England amongst your comments

Nish_US
on January 11, 2013, 21:14 GMT

@Harmony111

If Dhoni welcomes Irfan with open hands when he is available, for the alrounder slot.. and if they do not give any more chances to Rohit in ODIs (then why select him into the squad at all).......

(((It is true that some are selected just to warm benches, but when it comes to Jadeja and Rohit... they get drafted even before there is an opening....otherwise how could they play that long.. even after such mediocre performances many a time.)))

..continuing with the above it.....
then I will agree with you that Dhoni is fair when it comes to team selection....
I know that RP was drafted to fill in for Zak in Eng, but did Dhoni see if Nehra or Pathan are available at that time.... my gut feeling.. NO.. he went straight to the carribean (or some vacation place) and got him straight into the playing 11.

on January 11, 2013, 21:12 GMT

@eharmony...well you have a small understanding of the world don't you ? its tits for tats in sports...some day your team wins and some day our team wins and every fan has the right to be jingoistic but we need to stay in a limit...what actually happens is that when we lose we scrutinize the team so much that they cant handle the pressure and their performance goes down...and when we win , we end up making them super heroes which also in a way fortifies the pressure on the team...but isn't it true that the home team has the upper hand ? its actually ironic that we as pakistani fans have debates with you when actually we shouldnt...just wait for that one day when the pakistani team beats you in a world cup match...that would simply end every debate that indians have been able to hold off by just saying that...overall our overseas performance is better than india...india v pakistan overall has been mostly by pakistan..we have won more matches then india...no need to debate..stats show..

nyc_missile
on January 11, 2013, 21:11 GMT

Harmony111- You seem to be a rational person so I am baffled by your interpretation,its not his batsmanship.All the time I;ve been referring to his captaincy and lack of motivation,defensive tactics and his insecurities etc.So don't get me wrong ,,i did give credit where due..I also said lest you think I am a blind Dhoni basher that we might lose him as a player, if he continues captaining for CSK,Ind in T20,ODI&tests and also keeps every time.So time to relieve him of captaincy and preserve him as just a player.Time for new leadership,fresh ideas and fresh approach.Kohli or Gambhir might still fail but it cannot be worse than the current situation.

Harmony111
on January 11, 2013, 21:09 GMT

@Nampally: I am surprised how can you say Pujara is in red hot form when he is yet to make his ODI debut.
Eng's weakness is good spin, not any spin.

Regarding the team you talked of, do you know you picked ONLY 3 main bowlers there - Bhuvnesh, Shami & Ashwin. We had 4 bowlers today and we got 325 to chase. With 3 bowlers we might've had 425 to chase. Even among these 3 bowlers, 2 are total newbies while the 3rd is hopelessly out of form.

So what have you done so far? Dropped Ishant/Dinda to play Shami/Pujara. This has thinned bowling even further and has given us a debutant - who in your eyes will score a 100 on debut. Come on bro, see it yourself, it is a plan destined to fail. It would give us 400 to chase and we won't be able to defend even 400 runs.

I loathe Ishant/Dinda but having TWO rookies instead is even worse. They may go for 200 in 20 ovrs combined.

It's only the 1st match, Pujara can play in the next 4, today he had no place. That's a fact.

Surajdon9
on January 11, 2013, 21:05 GMT

India Still playing International Matches... Would you believe it...??????India should be remove from Test playing nation and need to play World Cricket divison leage to find place for ODIs & T2oIs.....

nyc_missile
on January 11, 2013, 21:05 GMT

@Nutraja oops..@Natraja:Seems you cant come up with enough accomplishments of Dhoni,I can help you out:
1.Ill-treating and destroying careers of players like Sreesanth,Tiwary,Rahane,Irfan Pathan and all those who are not his favorites.
2.Messing with Sehwag and Gambhir's minds by playing that ridiculous musical chairs of rotation in Oz to secure his own place after test wallopings when everybody wanted him out,so potential candidates nicely screwed.
3.Atrociously defensive,negative fields even in winning positions,works in ODI's but not in tests.
4.Selecting wrong players for the wrong format.Rohit,Rahane are test players so he leaves them out in tests based on ODI performances.WTH? Jadeja if anything is a purely ODI specialist,he plays him in test as all-rounder?!
5.Last but not the least,2 white-washes abroad,one disgraceful series defeat at home after 8 years,losing to Pakistan at home,after 7 years at home.
6.Failing to make it to WT20 3 times consecutively&losing to BD

Nish_US
on January 11, 2013, 21:00 GMT

@Harmony111

Yes Tiwari is unlucky in the sense, when he almost got the chance, he got hurt and became unavailable... but what happened to the years (yes years not months) in between when he is carrying drinks and watching india bowl out....

Again, I did not see much of his batting, but I think he is not the type that would just blast from ball 1 or some one for 6 or 7th down.. He is a top/middle order player.. and needs a few deliveries....so use him the same way..
May be it is the same issue with Rohit..

Do not make the same mistake you made with Kaif... who in my opinion would have made a better prospect if used wisely in Tests, leaving ODIs for Yuvraj.

Natraja
on January 11, 2013, 20:59 GMT

NYC missle,
you are blind to Dhoni's accomplishments. The guy is at least 3 in1 for the team and you see no contribution of his? unbelievable. As I have suggested earlier you have some non cricketing reason to hate Dhoni. Otherwise how can you discount Dhoni's wicket keeping, batting and captaincy and also his match winning innings time to time.
And you bet I still want Dhoni to stay captain of Indian cricket team as are scores of experts like Dravid and the selectors.

on January 11, 2013, 20:59 GMT

@Trickstar
1st of all I am supporting England as I am great fan of Cook and KP. Secondly I never said that we have got great side to be number 1 in the world, there are some top class cricketing teams like Ausies and RSA. We lost ODI series against England because we provided you conditions which suits you more then us unlike India.
Look at your past visits to India how humiliating they were or I need to remind you that you have won a test series against India after 28 years, thanks to Alaster Cook.
And one thing more, can you name your spin bowling coach like Cook said that you are luck that he is with you, as far as I remember he is from Pakistan.
Best of luck for the ODI series :) I am supporting Cook and KP and England :P

Hash_Tag
on January 11, 2013, 20:59 GMT

@Harmony111 - nothing further needs to be said. You have said it all and marked yourself out quite concisely. Earlier you were saying that I should call out disrespectful fans of any ilk. Now that I am doing so to SL and Eng "fans" even this does not seem to be enough for you. Losing is bad enough - without having to contend with fellow "fans" like you. Even so, nothing you can say or imply hurts in any way. Seeing India in this state is much worse than any sleight you could possibly hand out. Goodbye @Harmony111....

on January 11, 2013, 20:56 GMT

good job england... but,,,,

Al_Bundy1
on January 11, 2013, 20:48 GMT

What's so special about Ishant?? Does he have a Godfather in Indian Selection committee?? Why does Dhoni keep playing Ishant when we have a better bowler in Shami Ahmed?? It's time to "rest" Kohli and give a chance to Pujara simply because Pujara is in form and Kohli is not!!!! It's also time to drop Ashwin. Shabazz Nadeem or one of the lads from Delhi can do better.

Natraja
on January 11, 2013, 20:47 GMT

I think Pujara should be in place of Kohli. Kohli needs time to sort out his problems. Gambhir should be replaced with Dhawan or Unmukt Chand. Gambhir is fast becoming a liability in the field and his batting is atrocious. Even though he scored a fifty today but his stay was miserable. And the shot on which he got out.... less said... the better.
Ishant and Rohit should be paid to keep them at 2 miles distance from every stadium in the country. These guys are not cut out for cricket.

nyc_missile
on January 11, 2013, 20:45 GMT

@Natraja- ROFL is that the best you can come up with? fyi WC wins both T20 and ODI were exclusively,solely due to Yuvraj,Gambhir & Tendulkar's heavy contributions.What is his role in them,zilch.Coming in at 5 when the chase was on an auto-pilot is no big deal.Also I don't have any favorites.Just picking the best among the lot.If you are suggesting Dhoni still be the captain after 10 disgraceful thrashings,failing to make it to Asia Cup finals,WT20 THREE times consecutively and finally shamefully losing to arch rivals Pakistan,you are either rooting for opposition teams or simply a blind Dhoni fan.Now go LOL after your logic and stupidity.You reeled out statistics which are meaningless because I only referred to his performance as captain and NOT batsman.So beat yourself with numbers and still doesn't make a difference to his colossal failures as a leader.LOL

Harmony111
on January 11, 2013, 20:43 GMT

@nyc_missile: Ganguly had Zak, Nehra, Srinath & Agarkar, not a bad lot huh. He also had much younger SRT, Dravid, Himself, Sehwag, Kumble & Bhajji in form. That is 8 high quality exp players. Compare that to current Ind team - what do you get? The present problem is due to the fact that our bowling has become even weaker while our batting is not firing as much as it should.

Btw, dude did you ask what Dhoni has done for Ind team? Well, pls accept my good bye in that case. I don't want to talk to those who live in a vacuum. Your radar is completely misleading your missile.... Bye Bye. Dhoni won 2 WCs fyi, don't be so mean and ignorant. He is not that bad after all that you talk about him like this....

@Nish_US: I guess Irfan is injured else he would be the 1st choice for #7, next we have is Jadeja. We just don't have options there. Someone gotta bowl those 5-6-7 overs after all.

perl57
on January 11, 2013, 20:41 GMT

Nice work England. Win all you can coz India is rarely this hospitable at home. And when you play with even Bangladesh, you will be rolled in your grave coz you played against the worst team of the century.

Trickstar
on January 11, 2013, 20:41 GMT

@ Bruisers Is this all you've got as a comeback for getting beat again, it is hilarious though to see the usual pathetic display of being poor losers is all you can turn to at times like these and you seem to think that bringing up a warm up game lol and foreign talk is making you some how look big & clever, it's a shame you can't at least show a little bit of class, too much to ask though isn't it.

dabhand
on January 11, 2013, 20:41 GMT

@Abhijeet Kushe - Only a couple of days ago the 'predictions' of many Indian fans was a total whitewash of England, but now if England don't win by 4-1 or better then they've failed !!!!!!!! Wow that's a new way of describing failure and giving no credit at all to those players in the Indian team.

Mitch1066
on January 11, 2013, 20:37 GMT

England have being to three wc finals . We just not won any of them . And Olympics team gb were all British who actually won the medals so put that in your pipe randy oz and like someone said one county in England produced more medals then your entire country mate so ha ha . And to Delhi comment that was one match as old football comment goes. Underdog can alway do fa cup fairy tail Delhi did this . Enough said . And I'd take. 4-1 lose as it improvement though 3-2 be better or maybe even slight England victory

dunger.bob
on January 11, 2013, 20:34 GMT

Didn't see the match, haven't read the report, just had a quick look at the score-card. The first thing that jumped out at me was how important that innings from Patel was for England. Excellent acceleration right at the death I presume. In the context of a 9 run win, that knock looks priceless. .. Overall it seems to have been quite an exciting match. Who said one day cricket is dead!!

Nampally
on January 11, 2013, 20:34 GMT

@Harmony111: Captain firstly picks his best XI who are performing & in top form. He does not need a magic wand just use his head & select based on Form. The batsman in top form is Pujara. Without him Indian batting is v.unrelaible. Use Ashwin, Jadeja, Yuvi+Raina, as 3 spinners- England's weakness. Use Shami & B.Kumar as the last 2 bowlers. For heaven's sake do not bowl Kohli.The rest of the XI is Gambhir, Rahane, Pujara, Kohli & Dhoni. What is wrong with this XI? why did Dhoni drop Pujara & Shami to keep Dinda & Ishant in XI? Shami bowled so well in 3rd ODI vs. Pakistan. Dinda is not fit to play for India in any format when guys like Sreesanth, P.Kumar are in waiting- assuming Yadev, Irfan & Aaron are not available. Instead of logic Dhoni put his own crazy rationale into action & lost to England- beaten by India A & Delhi, easily. Every Captain needs an Action plan which he has to make it work to perfection by getting each one of his XI to excute without excuses. Dhoni Never has ONE!

on January 11, 2013, 20:32 GMT

For the first time EVER, as an India fan I'm hoping that we also lose this series just to make it even more clearer that how terrible the team is right now. The pak series was the most important one and since we lost that, this means nothing to me now. Under normal circumstances we should've won both series but it's anything but NORMAL and by only losing constantly there might be a chance that BCCI eyes would be opened! Even that is a far fetched thinking so yah India just lose this series too we fans can't take it anymore!!!

Teesra_googli
on January 11, 2013, 20:30 GMT

Dhoni was considerd for the MOM ........after all he scord 36 runs and hit 3 sixz hahahahahahaha

Harmony111
on January 11, 2013, 20:29 GMT

@Nampally: Pujara would have made his debut and you expected him to score a 100? Come on, the boy is talented but don't break him with so heavy expectations. We've already tagged him as the next wall in tests. Even red hot Kohli can't score 100s at will, not even SRT. As for Yuvi not bowling, perhaps he has some slight niggle but Yuvi the batsman alone deserves a place in team. As for Raina not bowling his 10 overs quota, well, its all due to situation. By the time it was time for Raina to bowl his 6th over it was PP time so Dhoni did not risk him afterwards. Note that Dhoni did not try Kohli after 1 over which was parallel to Raina's.

Playing Pujara for Yuv is a clear bad choice. Glad Dhoni did not do it. Who else should be dropped to fit Pujara in? I can't find anyone....can you?

lokphy
on January 11, 2013, 20:28 GMT

I haven't watched match but I feel there are many blunders from Dhoni's side.
I believe Dhoni wants to be in limelight in Indian cricket. That is why he doesn't give chance to outstanding players when they are in prime form see e.g. Rohit, Manoj, Pujara, Shami Ahmed, Rahul Sharma. He may also wants to destroy possible future captains such as Kohli. Why he is being handled bowling now and then. I think it affects his batting also and he cannot concentrate on batting. So Dhoni's idea is to keep ordinary players (Ishant, Jadeja, Ashwin) in the team, play one or two good knocks or such knocks which he can show that he performed better than others. DHONI IS NOT THINKING ABOUT INDIAN TEAM FUTURE be it world cup or No. 1 Test Ranking. At the end he will say that he is the only captain to have achieved these. So sad !!!

samincolumbia
on January 11, 2013, 20:27 GMT

@Harmony111 - I always thought that England and ROW were synonymous and could be used interchangeably!

dabhand
on January 11, 2013, 20:26 GMT

@RandyOz - when an Australian team regularly turns out for test, 50over and T20 comprising solely of indigenous peoples turns out is when you can talk about imports with a clean conscience.

Otherwise, well played both teams.

EnglishCricket
on January 11, 2013, 20:25 GMT

@Hash - Yes I am an England fan mate you don't know me the truth is hard to take I know, India are definitely not the team they once was :D

samincolumbia
on January 11, 2013, 20:25 GMT

I strongly feel that this Indian team would not even win an ODI against the Sri Lankan team. I realize that it's the ultimate insult that you can hurl at any self respecting team, but the current Indian team has become so jaded that we need to throw the whole lot out and start with fresh faces and talents.

Trickstar
on January 11, 2013, 20:24 GMT

@Shehzad Nizamani LOL really, has Pakistan even won a Test series away from the UAE against a top 5 side in recent years, yes you did great against England but that one series does not make you a top 2 side so don't get carried away and if you were to play in countries like England, Aus, SA & even SL you would get resoundingly beat. If you're talking about one day cricket you're having a laugh, England beat you 4-0 and you've lost more matches than you've won this year in 50 over cricket, lost 11 & won 8 lol, whereas England have only lost 2 games the last year.

Natraja
on January 11, 2013, 20:23 GMT

NYC Missile,
For your info sir. Gangully has Srinath, Prasad, Kumble and harbhajan to bowl with. All of them Miles ahead than the current crop of any spinner and fast bowler we have.

baskar_guha
on January 11, 2013, 20:17 GMT

India's problems have a lot to do with their less reliable batting not quite compensating for their much weaker bowling. When is the last time an Indian team didn't have a world class spinner which is another way of saying Ashwin is not that. In this match, Treadwell was clearly superior and even part-timers Raina and Root had better figures than Ashwin. India would do well to inject some fresh blood in bowling, notably in the spin department if they are to do well.

Natraja
on January 11, 2013, 20:14 GMT

NYC-Misled,
Did you answer my question about our bowlers? No you dont have an answer.

But here are answers to your question about Dhoni in tests, Dhoni has no magic wand. But he is best wicket keeper in Indian Test cricket history, Best wicket keeper Batsman in the Indian test cricket history. Most catches/stumping by a wicket keeper in Indian test cricket. Best batsman among the test wicket keeper by a mile. AND The captain who took India to number one when he had resources. He is the captain who is still trying to make team competitive when its best resource, batting, is depleted.

And Dhoni in one dayers is best Indian batsman, best wicket keeper and a captain who has won two world cups. He has been ODI cricketer of years for many years and is still 4th in the ICC's list (best among Indians).

Now let me know your alternative to Dhoni and his accomplishments lol.... Find one and then enlight every body. Genius..lol...

on January 11, 2013, 20:13 GMT

Being an Indian supporter it is sad to see the bad state of Indian cricket. However I really hope that we loose badly in this series. The drastic changes which were expected after the Pakistan series loss did not take place. Only a bad defeat could force the fail safe and negative selectors to take such decisions. This series is for Englands to take. Anything less that 5-0 of 4-1 should be a failure for the English cricket side.
PS :- Dhoni is still the right man to lead the Indian side.Kohli recent failures prove that his dream form run is over.Now is his real test .How does he scrape through a tough patch. Before he learns that he should not be made captain

Prakmca
on January 11, 2013, 20:11 GMT

Atno. 7 you need to use either a complete allrounder or batsman. Having half batsman and half bowler not going to help. In his 60+ one days, in how many matches Jadeja completed his full quota of 10 overs? In how many matches he has taken india home??Answer is big NO. Yusuf Pathan will be handy in that position. Not sure how long Dhoni is going to persist with Jadeja.

Not able to connect the ball with bat when India needs runs badly???
One thing Dhoni has to say - Whats Special in Jadeja?????

Ashwin also should be dropped from the team for now. Very bad show.

Harmony111
on January 11, 2013, 20:10 GMT

@Hash_Tag:

In this article alone you will find a few ppl who are saying that Ind won the WC cos it was home conditions and flat wickets. Obviously, these things won't have started today only, they must have existed since April 2011. What surprises me is that that day you flatly denied that any of this deriding ever happened and it was I who was provoking the other fans. Search for Teesra_googli & Moazam Rashid here to see real proof. Nearly the same thing was said by numerous SL fans, most Aus fans and some Eng fans too.

You want me to be soft and sober with these sort of sporting fans?

If you still doubt me, well, you can ask the Ind fans here what the behav of SL & Eng fans has been vs Ind for the last 24-30 months, esp ever since Ind reached #1 in Tests.

And oh, ask around if anyone knows RandyOz's "Piece of Cake" comment, that comment is a classic for the regulars here. He said that for Ind-Aus U19 Finals.

As per you we should embrace these kind of fans, right?

Trickstar
on January 11, 2013, 20:09 GMT

@ JG2704 I'm not sure how you can have 2 players who have only shown anything in T20 ahead of Trott, especially when it's backed up with a bit of a dodgy claim that he's regressed in this format, he averages 41 this past year, which is good in anyone's book, I think you're getting you're formats mixed up mate. He may not have made that big ton this year and had a poor one day series in the UAE but he's been pretty consistent non the less.

on January 11, 2013, 20:08 GMT

Hey did Dhoni get the Man of the match award in this game too? Usually when you don't perform you get it right?

Mitch1066
on January 11, 2013, 20:08 GMT

Randy troll oz I'm getting sick of your pathetic comments u are aware you are speaking language of country you seam belittle highly likely ancestors came from there too so do us all favour shut up! Now well played England once again we stopped white wash hopefully we can do ourselves good by playing well all series. And on history England were invaded also by Jutes angles etc Danish aswel as Germanic so history lesson ended .

Nampally
on January 11, 2013, 20:08 GMT

@Nish_US & @Harmony111: You seem to be in an interesting debate. I tend to support the logic of Nish_US. Pujara is a player in his top form right now. He has averaged 87 in 4 Tests against England & already faced all their bowlers. So he is brimming with confidence. Secondly, he scored a double & a triple century in 2 consecutive Ranji games.Thirdly, he was playing on his home ground which he knows like a back of his hand. He deserved the first priority above every other batsman. Dhoni's folly in dropping Pujara is India's loss. Why is Yuvraj called an "all rounder" if he does not bowl a single Ball? Yuvi & Raina can bowl 10 overs between them as 5th bowler. Raina bowled 5 overs for 18 runs with a wkt too! Why didn't Dhoni bowl him 10 overs & why bring rubbish over of Kohli?On a dead Rajkot wkt., I expected a century from at least one of the top 5, if they were so indispensable. Pujara would have easily got a century where Kohli failed again!
Dhoni's captaincy is killing Team India!.

nyc_missile
on January 11, 2013, 20:02 GMT

@Nataraja Also tell me, why was Pujara not included and why was Shami Ahmed dropped just after one game.You cry about bowling right,there is your fast bowler who bowled 2 maidens on debut ..against Pak..in a low scoring game.. under pressure..NOW is Dhoni not accountable for this goof up? you can come up a 100 excuses saving Dhoni and I will have answer for each one of those.

on January 11, 2013, 20:02 GMT

Funny how the third umpire required so few replays and no close-up to determine that Morgan was out to a fair catch even though every replay I saw was inconclusive.... yet after deep scruntiny and several really magnified close-ups decided that Bresnan's catch was unfair. So India get the benefit of the doubt both times.

Harmony111
on January 11, 2013, 19:57 GMT

@ATTENTION ALL INDIAN FANS: VERY IMP INFO:

We've amongst us a fellow named HASH_TAG who supposedly is a bleeding heart liberal honest unbiased Ind fan and he has in the past accused me of being provocative and harsh when dealing with RoW fans esp Eng, SL and Aus fans.

Mr. Hash_Tag thinks that:

1. Ind fans are the most disliked/hated of 'em all & I am responsible for it.
2. RoW was very sporting when Ind won the WC 2011 (Esp SL and Eng fans)
3. No RoW fan ever said Ind won WC cos it was at home or flat wickets etc.
4. I provoke the otherwise docile, sober, unbiased RoW fans into making angry comments that lead to they hating us.
5. RoW fans are usually very appreciative of Ind achievements. For eg, RoW applauded wholeheartedly SRT's 200 or Viru's 219 or Ind's Test #1 Rank etc. No RoW fan has any grudge towards Ind and if any then it is due to me and me alone.

Am I bad if I give it back to the rowdy SL/Eng fans? Why forget the context?
But I'd say SA/NZ/WI fans make a good lot.

IAS2009
on January 11, 2013, 19:57 GMT

i genuine all rounders are not that many but in indian team anyone who can do both a little bit are called genuine all rounder. Botham, Imran Khan, Chris Cairns Kapil Dev were genuine allroundesr, it is shame people with limited time in the game are called allrounder now a days, the media people are to blame.

Hash_Tag
on January 11, 2013, 19:56 GMT

@EnglishCricket on (January 11 2013, 18:35 PM GMT) sir you are out of line. Do not describe your defeated foe as a "joke". A contemptuous comment here and a dig there - please stop. I am not even sure you are an England fan as in this instance there have been many reasonable comments from England. That is to their credit. Some India fans have behaved irresponsibly in the past - there is no need for you to descend to that level. If you need reminders I will provide them.

Trickstar
on January 11, 2013, 19:55 GMT

@ RandyOZ As usual Randy you're spot on the money here, when you say the 'imports doing the bulk of the work', those South African openers we've got Cook & Bell did very well up front and then the Australian Patel also came to the party at the end of the Innings, not to mention the great Pakistani spinner Tredwell go the bulk of the wickets.

nyc_missile
on January 11, 2013, 19:55 GMT

Harmony111- Agreed we have lack of bowling options..agreed they cannot bowl yorkers.Tell me did Ganguly have tear-away fast bowlers ripping apart teams.My friend,it is about maximizing available talent and making them give their best and that's job of the captain.In this regard,Dhoni has failed monumentally..not just crib about lack of options all the time.He has several resources and powers on hand to force the issue in terms of identifying talent,grooming them and providing them consistent support and confidence.which is what Ganguly did and Dhoni failed to do..

Natraja
on January 11, 2013, 19:53 GMT

I meant to say 100% of the time.
Nish
even if you reduce all rounders, our specialist bowlers are still useless. They cant win matches. So next option is to have batsmen win the match and a few allrounders pitch in with both bat and ball.

Trickstar
on January 11, 2013, 19:49 GMT

I personally thought it was a disgrace that the 3rd umpire didn't give the Bresnan catch, he clearly caught it, at no time did the ball come lose, it was great catch. It was especially poor seen as they gave the caught and bowled to dismiss Morgan, where it wasn't clear that the bowler held onto the ball at all, he caught it and it seemed to come lose then the cameras lost sight of it.

Natraja
on January 11, 2013, 19:48 GMT

Nish,
You are right. I was of the opinion that Gambhir, Kohli, Ishant and Dhinda should be dropped. Either Unmukt Chand or Dhawan should open with Rahane, Dhoni at number 3 and Pujara at number 4 follwed by Yuvi, Jadeja and Raina. Bring in Shami and Pankaj singh in place of Ishant and Dhinda. Team may perform OK. In the mean time search for two decent bowlers.

nyc_missile
on January 11, 2013, 19:48 GMT

@Nataraja So tell me Mr Genius apart from a laundry list of excuses just like Dhoni,tell me one thing Dhoni has contributed to this team meaningfully as captain and even as batsman in tests..I will then accept you have brains..

Nish_US
on January 11, 2013, 19:45 GMT

India has better bowlers than Dinda.. In fact I watched one of the ranji matches few months back, when Dinda was being considered or just included into the national plans..... the guy he shared the ball with swung the ball long way and looked way more threatening than him, and dinda was just doing the same extravagant jump and grunt and still bowling the short stuff wide of off stump.... I prayed he be not selected.. but well...

SudeepSonawane
on January 11, 2013, 19:44 GMT

I agree with Nandan Nadkarni. Shami Ahmed achieved the seemingly improbable against Pakistan in Delhi. His first two over on ODI debut were maidens; quite a remarkable feat. He bowled a frugal spell at a brisk speeds of 137 kms plus. He knocked one bouncer on Umar Gul's helmet and came back even stronger in the death overs while his senior partner Ishant was bowling all over the place, missed an easy run out. Ahmed's 'resting' is a dumb decision, unless he was unfit. When a player's confidence his high he should always play, because one player's morale rubs off on others. If any fast bowler had to be dropped it was Ishant, his poor figures against England reaffirm this. The chorus to remove Dhoni as captain and dismiss coach Fletcher should get louder, if Indian cricket has to be spared from daft decisions which Dhoni regulars takes and has now made it his signature tune.

Harmony111
on January 11, 2013, 19:41 GMT

@Nish_US: Bingo, perhaps the only thing I'd agree with you. Players are burnt out, can't you see they can't even stand up when the going gets tough, cos they are fatigued and are numb in any situation. Dhoni is by nature like that so can deal with it better but players like Kohli, Gambhir are volatile who usually spend a lot of energy during play. They've spent all that energy now and need time to recharge.

About your other comment, I did not mean Tiwary was unlucky for team. I meant Tiwary was unlucky cos he does not get a place in team. As for Nohit, he surely got talent but has misplaced it somewhere :-p But is he in the team? No.

Dhoni's selection policy may seem a bit stiff but from the PoV of a manager he is damn right. You don't let go of a half exp resource to try a greenhorn. As for Rohit, he did score a 50 vs Pak in Asia Cup. How many ODIs he played after that? Just the SL series - there he got 1 wrong 1 and got to bat in tough times. But yes, he got nuff chances now.

zan_69
on January 11, 2013, 19:41 GMT

Dear " INDIA " Seriously Not Worth calling you as world champions.I think even Bangladesh bowling attack is much more better than yours.God 200 million people can find 5 bowlers.LOL!! What a Shame.

Natraja
on January 11, 2013, 19:39 GMT

@Harmony, Very well put. NYC-Missle is like millions of Indian fans who know nothing about cricket but think they are the geniuses. They fail to understand that their bowling department is so pedestrian that they can not win matches on the strength of bowling and their batting is in transition. I mean with Indias bowlers its surprising team is still competing. If batting fails they will lose on 10% of the time. Other teams bowlers on the otherhand bring team back in competition.

Nish_US
on January 11, 2013, 19:38 GMT

@Natraja

If jadeja is an alrounder, then what is Yuvi, Raina... and Ashwin.... you cannot pack the team with allrounders...

You still need specialists who can do the actual stuff.. .and allrounders can fill in when the specialists fail, like sharing the 5th bowler overs and getting us over the rope by scoring the 20s and 30s or setting up a respectable total

you do not find a sobers, Imran, kapil, Kallis, Hadlee (few more).. every day

on January 11, 2013, 19:34 GMT

Short cut to resolve India's Problems: Replace the Indian team with the Delhi team that beat England. Apparently before taking action the BCCI is waiting for some whitewash record just the way everybody waited for the 100th century of Sachin. They failed narrowly in this goal against Pakistan. But they have the English series followed by Australian series. So they will get there.

on January 11, 2013, 19:33 GMT

I will blame Rahane for todays loss because after getting 7.4 runrate he became very slow and was not rotating strike and he gifted the wicket then Yuvi should have been there in the powerplay overs just before that he gifted his wicket.I don't know why Dhoni is not using Yuvi as bowler aginst Pak he leaked runs becuse Hafees and Malik always playing Yuvi very well but aginst Engalnd he is always a handy bowler. I beleive shammy is better bowler than overated Dinda

Teesra_googli
on January 11, 2013, 19:33 GMT

Ashwin , jedja both are very average bowlers they are not match winners why Dhoni do not want to understand that and in fast bowling option Ashant and Dinda are useless ...Shami should be playing the next match and Ishant with the figures of 86 runs he should be kicked out to the nearest hair cut saloon so fresh air can cross throw his brain...ppl said so much about Dhoni some says he is very good captain very good batsman Bla Bla but i think he is lucky captain india ever had .....and as far his captaincy is concerned i think changing bowlers and setting field is not the name of captaincy and that is what he is doing since the took over the charge due to his luck and india had Sachin Sehwag ANd my FAV VVS the indain team won and now they are all gone here you are Dhoni is giving excuses after every match 10 runs short team is rebuilding Bla Bla never looked a captain in Feild like Imaran kahn Azar u din wasin akram Ganguly or even Inzi yes he can bat and turn around a match at its own

Nish_US
on January 11, 2013, 19:32 GMT

@Natraja

I totally agree that bowling is the main concern... but there are not that many alternatives there...

Your biggest strength has been batting and there are a few options there...so why not try them....you are losing anyways.. why not try different options and see if they click

Our strength always has been batting, scoring big runs, gaining psycological advantage, and then putting pressure on the side with our limited bowling options...

But when the very foundation of batting strength started cracking, thats what led to the downfall....

on January 11, 2013, 19:31 GMT

just for general knowledge for some of the Indian fans...actually when i was going through the comments i read that some Indian fans think that India has won more away series in England and Australia than Pakistan...well actually i shall take the liberty to disappoint those of you people who think that...India in England has lost 12 series , won 3 and drawn 1 out of overall 16 away series to England..on the other hand Pakistan has played 13 series and won 3 and drawn 3 while losing 7 which is a overall better record than India and as far as the most match wins are concerned... Pakistan have won 9 while India has just 5 to its name..india in australia has resulted in either an australian win or a draw and india like pakistan have never won a test series in australia..the only consolation here for those indian fans is that india has 5 wins in australia while pakistan has 4...but still if you look at the overall away matches played by india and pakistan in aus and eng...PAK=14, Ind=10

AbdullahShah
on January 11, 2013, 19:29 GMT

Congrats England.. But disappointed to see that Dhoni was not given the MOM award!!!! :D how come he plays in his home and cudnt get the award!! ?? :D

Nish_US
on January 11, 2013, 19:27 GMT

@Harmony111

Pujara's triple is domestic - confirms he is in form (so does jadeja), but he also has a ton and a double against the same team in the international arena, that confirms his class, ability and temperament at the highest level.

So please do not compare his scenario with Jadeja's....

If you consider Jadeja as a genuine bowler, then kick Ashwin out.. you cannot have two specilist spinners and two spinning allrounders (yuvi, raina) in the team..

When is the last time when Jadeja won India a game with his batting... Irfan is a better bat than Jadeja in the international arena any day.

mazii
on January 11, 2013, 19:24 GMT

gsingh... You always come up with hilarious facts. When did India won a test series against australia in australia? Do you know that Pakistan won test series against England in England in1996 by 2-0? What you want to prove by giving these factitious facts? Pakistan last time won one test match against England in England and drew test series against Australia in England. On the other hand, your team was thrashed 8-0 overseas. Now India can't win away and on home soil. Don't give false facts to misguide readers.

Harmony111
on January 11, 2013, 19:19 GMT

@nyc_missile: What do you think a captain is for? Is a captain secretly given a magic wand or some potion that he can give to his players at crucial times? It is clear you really have no understanding of how a system works. I keep saying this again and again. A Team is a system - that runs on certain resources and the way to pick and use those resources to achieve certain objective. The captain can come up with the best possible way to use resources given to him but he can't make those resources do things they lack the skill for.

If Ind have resources like Dinda & Ishant then what can Dhoni do with even the best possible strategy? What exactly has Ishant learnt in 5 yrs of Intl cricket? Cummins/Starc/Finn are far far better bowlers than him - faster too. Your most exp bowler gives 86 runs in 10 overs that too due to shocking length bowling outside off and this is Dhoni' fault in your eyes? Jadeja gave half as much as Ishant. 10 less runs frm Ishant & Ind wud have won - why blame Dhoni

on January 11, 2013, 19:17 GMT

I dont know the point having R.Jadeja as an all rounder after all his 70 odd matches, I can't still understand what is in the mind of our captain of opting him as an all rounder for all his consistent batting failures... Currently India is playing with 5 bowlers and 6 batsmen which is never helping the sides cause.... If Jadeja is required remove one bowler and get in a batsman... 7 batsman + 4 bowlers is the formula which has been a successful combination which Team India enjoyed for a long while.. So better opt either one, Aswin or Jadeja, preferably Jadeja for his fielding and get Pujara into side to get a balance in side...A delay in this might result in another disastrous series..... So team management act soon rather its too late for team India....

Nish_US
on January 11, 2013, 19:15 GMT

As for me the biggest reason for India's downfall after WC2011, is not having a decent break after the prestigious achievement...

People who worked hard and realized the dream were not given a chance to enjoy the moment even for few weeks.. the IPL was around the corner..

When you cannot enjoy the success, you cannot motivate yourself enough

Nish_US
on January 11, 2013, 19:12 GMT

Cricket is not what it used to be 10-20 years ago.. now there is no begin of the season or end of the season... BCCI plugs in a mini-series even in the midst of series and then there is IPL...

Cricket is taxing not only physically but mentally as well
You cannot give your 100% physically mentally and strategically if you are playing round the clock all round the year...

When Dravid said Dhoni should be the test captain, It is because of lack of alternatives....He is the only one with stable spot in all three formats...but cannot continue in all three and IPL and lead

You need to prioritize....

on January 11, 2013, 19:12 GMT

Dhoni comes up trumps again..lol
This joker cannot give any more excuses due to his poor selection policy..
Any bets we will have the same team for 2nd ODI ?

Natraja
on January 11, 2013, 19:10 GMT

NISH_US
Jadeja is picked up as an allrounder. Allrounders will be successful in either bowling or batting and on occasions will succeed in both in same matches. Jadeja has bowled good in two consecutive matches and always saves 10-15 runs with his live wire fielding. So he is not the problem.
The real question we should be asking is., how good are our strike bowlers? Today Sharma and Dhinda leaked runs. Sharma went for 86 runs. At least Jadeja contained with his only 46 runs in 10 overs. as I see none of our bowlers can find a place in B teams of Eng, Aust, SA and Pakistan. Its pure optimism to hope to win matches on their strengths. India was winning matches due to their batting strength which has now been depleted. Unless we find two good bowlers and fill the boots of stalwarts, we are going to have heart burn more often than not.

on January 11, 2013, 19:03 GMT

Why Dhone dosn't give to bowl to Yuvi, thought dhoni knows that Yuvi can ball at good length and can take wicket easily in middle overs, i think dhone forgot yuvi world cup series, Yuvi is all rounder, treat him as all rounder rather than giving ball to virat and raina, and one more thing why Indian Selector dont take Infan Pathan inside of Jadega. Irfan can score with him bat as well as he is good swing baller...

Teesra_googli
on January 11, 2013, 19:00 GMT

IF you see the bowling of English men today they bowled short pitch and leg sidish thats why GG scord otherwise i think GG has no place in Team...If you made a Flat Track then in my view Sehwag was the best choice to open and if he were playing today mark my words india won that match in 45 overs coz of the bowling and the pitch i know Sehwag time is over but i can not see any batsman who can take bowling apart like Sehwag do....iF india is not able to win against this bowling attack i am very sorry to say how they will win agaist SA or AU ...and AUstralia is coming so be ready for more shows.

Natraja
on January 11, 2013, 18:56 GMT

NYC-Missle,
I just read your lies on Jadeja, He has been one of the better bowlers even today. He was 40 runs less than your main strike bowler Ishant Sharma who gave 86 runs in his 10 overs. You seems my friend has some axe to grind against Dhoni or else how can you question Jadeja's inclusion. The guy saves 10-15 runs in the field as he is one of the greatest indian fielder. He is bowling better than your strike bowlers and you are upset about Jadeja and not likes of Dhinda and Sharma? Unbelievable. Cricinfo, please publish.

Nish_US
on January 11, 2013, 18:55 GMT

@Harmony1111

Who made Tiwary unlucky and Rohit Sharma lucky
Is the team selected by the roll of the dice or what -

Rohit played 86 one dayers with two hundreds and scores of 4 4 4 0 0 5 in the last few innings and still selected into the squad

How many more innings do you want to wait before you close the door on him.
I am not talking about banishing him forever, but if any one fails to perform for so long, you cannot just put them in the team and hope for the best...

Even the dice rolls 6 once in a while....

Natraja
on January 11, 2013, 18:50 GMT

NYC- Missile, stop kidding yourself. The kind of bowlers (spin and fast together) India has, its miracle Indian team is still competing. Tell me one bowler, just one who can find a place in top 4 teams such as SA, Eng, Australia or Pakistan? The answer is None, they are not fit for even B teams of these countries. And you want to win all the matches on their strength? You are a hell lot of optimist. Listen no amount of skull jugglery, bowling changes or genius will make these pedestrians match winners. So accept it till India finds two match winning bowlers, they are not going to win many matches. Dhoni has no magic wand nor your next captain so stop fooling yourself and accept the fate. Team India will suffer defeat after defeat till they get 2 match winning bowlers.

EnglishCricket
on January 11, 2013, 18:47 GMT

hahaha India! congratulations England I'm sure you will win this series as well at least 3-2 or another whitewash? :D

deol84
on January 11, 2013, 18:44 GMT

Well India is loosing to spin bowlers now,experienced ishant sharma went for 86 runs.Dhoni should stop making excauses that he has young side,well look at pakistan,australia they also have young side but the are competeing very well and wining.It may be lack of telent india has in bowling.Batters are just about ok.

Teesra_googli
on January 11, 2013, 18:42 GMT

Moazam Rashid on (January 11 2013, 18:23 PM GMT) i am totally agree with you india always win when their batsmen score runs ...i am not talking about when india had Kumble in spin department but recent times when Dhoni take charge of indian team they always depend on their batting and i think when you see matches of Ranji you know why...in one match 4 to 5 centries ...i mean Flat Track and no Bowling Talent...we all know india won wc in india at home ground on FlatTracks but they were average bowling Team with FlatTrack Tigger Batsman ...in WC 11 Yuvraj bowled so many spells and took wickets ...and Indian Fans i know how much you Cry about selection it will never matter but the selectors are not reading this LOL

EnglishCricket
on January 11, 2013, 18:42 GMT

Look Jadeja and Ashwin the best all-round players in the world caused India to lose yet again :D

wake_up_india
on January 11, 2013, 18:40 GMT

And still Dhoni is the best man to lead India (as per Rahul Dravid) -- amazing! If you are a disappointed Indian fan, just think of this as Srinivasan's XI, not the Indian national team.

Nish_US
on January 11, 2013, 18:39 GMT

The last significant victory for India (baring SL) is the worldup win which dates back to 2011.... so yes, we have been consistently losing for years...

Shan156
on January 11, 2013, 18:38 GMT

@jmcilhinney, Cook got his batting order correct. Samit played one good knock in 2011 too but still doesn't convince me of a place in the XI. Maybe, in this part of the world, he is OK but I hope England don't play him in the Champions Trophy. Even here, we are a bowler short and Patel cannot be relied upon to bowl at least 5 overs. This series is going to be played most probably on flat wickets and so, we should consider trusting our top 6 to get us the runs and play 5 regular bowlers.

Nish_US
on January 11, 2013, 18:37 GMT

@MAR00N5

If Jadeja is picked up as a genuine bowler, then what is Aswin..
We cannot have two genuine spin bowlers, and then have another two spinning alrounders in Yuvi, raina especially keeping in mind the next worldcup and the upcoming series are not in the subcontinent.

EnglishCricket
on January 11, 2013, 18:35 GMT

India is a joke suppose to be dominating in Cricket but nobody fears your team. Please play and invite teams of your calibre like Ireland, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. you're wasting our England team time.

on January 11, 2013, 18:34 GMT

There was a point there when I thought Dhoni was going to steal it on us.

on January 11, 2013, 18:33 GMT

Thought it is was a great game....last 2 overs for England was the only difference...looking forward to the next one...should be a close series...evenly matched teams...

landl47
on January 11, 2013, 18:31 GMT

A good game to watch and a pleasing win for England. Although it seems churlish to criticize, I didn't think England bowled and fielded all that well, with the exception of Tredwell. The seamers all went for more than 60, Finn didn't seem to have much rhythm and for Joe Root, an occasional offspinner, to have the second best economy rate demonstrates that there is a lot of room for improvement. Dropping Dhoni on 0 also almost cost England the game; it was a tough chance, but the way Dhoni has been batting those have to be taken.

Still, the game was won and all the batsmen played well. India gambled and lost that they'd be able to outhit England on a featherbed of a wicket. Now that the threat of a whitewash has been put to rest (for England, at least!) hopefully we'll see a close-fought, exciting series.

Omair.Abs
on January 11, 2013, 18:30 GMT

Indian cricket has been unfortunate so far: they lost test match series from England first, then lost ODI series from Pakistan ( one t20 as well) and now started loosing ODI from England as well., No doubt India is the world champion but people out there expect balanced results from Team India. Although Most of the team lineup consists of the legends but they cant control the excitement/confidence in result of which they get shaky.

Teesra_googli
on January 11, 2013, 18:30 GMT

Oh poor India .....let me clear one thing guys please i have some points let me know if you guys agree No.1 England team with no Swaan,Anderson and Broad Weak bowling Attack No.2 Flat track again ..now GG made half century he is in for the last 4 ODIS ..we all know indian batsman are FlatTrack Tiggers but india failed Today on a Flat Track No.3 Why Shami is not playing and why Dinda is playing"?? No.4 There is no other off spinner in whole india who can play for national Team??? N0.5 Where is Coach and why india repeating same mistakes , why they are not learning from their mistakes ?? IF india is doing what they are doing for the last 14 months then Bangladesh Team has right to Cliam the title of Supper Stars LOL and Cricinfo please publish one time....NEver saw my Comments.

nyc_missile
on January 11, 2013, 18:24 GMT

@Dinesh K. Singh What to lol about it ? Dhoni can slog a few sixes here and there but you seem to deliberately misunderstand.The problem is NOT Dhoni the batsman but its Dhoni the captain.He is an utter failure in juggling the bowling resources.Also what about his favorite jadeja today eh? Neither a batsman nor a bowler and WHO selected him? You probably suggest that Kohli has failed today as well.I dont care,he's done enough over the last 3 yrs to deserve to be captain.am.not bothered by few failures..responsibility will make him focus more and score again..So I still maintain DHONI is the problem,DUMP him as captain..

on January 11, 2013, 18:23 GMT

For all the Indians crying that there main strike bowlers..( um.. really strike bowlers ?? that's a joke) are injured should try to look back into past and see that if India has been able to win most matches its because their batsman have scored runs and that too on batting heavens and home grounds....their bowlers have been one of the weakest in the world except sporadically performing once a year...and when one of the best bowling team came they couldn't score runs and when one of the best batting side has arrived,they cant even stop them from scoring runs and that shows that India win in the world-cup was a fluke and that was because of their home advantage... India ,your days are over and now be contented with losing by smaller margins instead of even thinking of winning any series...India is going to be thrashed all around the world with this pathetic bowling line up and now after their batting has been exposed as flat-track bully...

Interesting point made by a few ppl here. I feel somehow R Ashwin has been kind of invisibly under performing for long now. In fact, if one goes into details one will find that Ashwin has cost a few games due to his rubbish bowling now. Set the tests aside cos it is a more cohesive case of responsibility there but in the recent ODIs and T20s he has been not all that good. Even in the CLT20, I remember in 1 match the other team needed some 32 of 19 balls and then Ashwin bowled a no ball that got them 10 runs - match over. He has forgotten that as a spinner his job is to spin the ball not to keep trying variations - btw variations of what? As a supposedly front line bowler he is grossly useless of late. Imagine Ind today having another batsman in his place - Yuvi/Rahane could have bowled and only gotten for 10-20 more runs may be.

Good thing about Dhoni is that he is not hasty. He does not drop a player just cos he had 3-4 bad games. He still plays Dinda - imagine!

But Ashwin gotta go.

Shan156
on January 11, 2013, 18:20 GMT

@gsingh7, no, India have never won a test series in Australia. To their credit, they have 3 series wins in England but so do Pak.

Why oh why are India not considering Harbhajan Singh in ODIs or T20s? He has been very successful against England in the shorter form of the game. Ashwin seems to be relatively easy pickings for the England batsmen.

@Harmony111, yes, we hope Sachin reconsiders his retirement and plays in this series too. Our bowlers won't mind a free wicket:-) Like someone remarked during the test series, India had a festive offer going on atm - "you get Pujara out, you get Sachin absolutely free":-) Seriously though, India did look like world beaters and deservedly won the world cup in 2011. Since then they haven't looked the same but I don't think the absence of Sachin is the only reason - they did thump England 5-0 without Sachin and Yuvraj in late 2011.

InsideHedge
on January 11, 2013, 18:19 GMT

Joe Root, making his debut, would be the 1st to admit that he's a mediocre spin bowler. I mean he doesn't even spin it. Yet he out-bowled R-Ashwin. How much more evidence do we need that Ashwin is all hot air. Add in his awful fielding yet MSD had the clumsy man fielding in the slips!

What are the coaching staff doing? Do they not discuss basics such as who should be fielding in specialist positions? Pity Pujara didn't play otherwise we would have got another chance to see him fielding in the slips with his pads on.

If you deliberately wanted to ruin Indian cricket, could you do a better job than this lot? Am I over reacting?

on January 11, 2013, 18:18 GMT

pathetic captaincy by dhoni again.......why replace a bowler who bowled 16 balls for 9 runs and 2 wickets in death overs......the last 2 overs cost india the game...........only dhoni is there to blame..............he keeps preferring ashwin and jadeja..........ashwin's performance has been below average in ODIs.............in australia he was below average..........even in india he gives a good performance in 1 out of 5 matches......this team needs 3 immediate change........remove dhoni form captaincy and move him up the batting order.......replace ashwin and jadeja asap.......remove fletcher

New_ICC
on January 11, 2013, 18:16 GMT

I am really happy with the current indian team with the way they chase this total. we should appreciate and hopefule they will come back strongly with their bowling performances in next matches. Play Pujara instead of R.jadeja and give yuvraj to bowl in next matches.

on January 11, 2013, 18:09 GMT

why don't you hire pakistan reserve bowlers? as even paki local bowlers are way better than indian top class regular bowlers such as Dinda, Ashwin and Ishant....... paki bowlers will surely hand over an overwhelming victory to india...

on January 11, 2013, 18:08 GMT

Well played England. Heads off to u.U guys are played very cool head with waiting game while u are batting u don't know how many runs are enough in this flat batting track but u go strength to strength.Your first target is 300 but u reached 325.I have question in my mind what sehwag to do so he will back of indian side again.ipl is enough? or any domestic one day tournament are scheduled?Am sure if any schedule may be sehwag reached 300.Is it enough.I am asking to selectors how u again judge he is in nick or not.I missed the magic of sehwag in this match.And i am hundred percent sure after sehwag and sachin watching batting in up front is boring for millions of people i think they can contrbute 2 or three years more.

vigneshvinu
on January 11, 2013, 18:08 GMT

Everybody talks about taking dinda instead of shami,i think ishant sharma is waste candiatate in indian team i dont understand on what basis they have selected him in the team.just check what ishant has done in past except taking pointings wkt in australia back 2008.u need to give rest to players like ashwin and especially dhoni for keeping fresh against australia.u need to look for the future and not the current series.kohli doesnt show consistency.u drop him and bring only when playing against SL,WI and NZ he will show his form and consistency.

CricketingStargazer
on January 11, 2013, 18:06 GMT

One question to our Indian fans. Now that Ravi Ashwin's bowling has become far less effective at this level, should he continue to play as a front-line bowler and a tail end bat? Surely, either he has to play as a batsman who can bowl a few overs, or should be replaced with a specialist bowler. Realistically, batting at 8, his batting is almost irrelevant in ODIs, so he either has to fulfill the role of front-line bowler, or play higher up the order.

WC2011Champs
on January 11, 2013, 18:05 GMT

DHONI HAS TO ANSWER THIS ONE. Jadeja 9 overs less than 50 runs; Raina 5 overs 18 runs; Why did Raina not continue? Why did he forget Yuvraj completely? Ishant went for 86 runs. See a huge problem here by the captain.

CamS71
on January 11, 2013, 18:04 GMT

Hats off to Tredwell who once again showed what a solid performer he is. Yet another English spinner out playing his Indian counterparts in their own back yard & a credit to the County system. Would have 40 Test caps by now if he was an Aussie.

on January 11, 2013, 18:02 GMT

all the tine i observe that the bowlers of India r not accurate. they hv to be more laborious.. after that india can expect the massive win.

Long-Leg
on January 11, 2013, 18:02 GMT

I can only assume that Root has been picked ahead of Buttler, Taylor and Bairstow because the selectors see a great future for him. I agree with others on these boards who have said that the other three are better finishers in ODIs. However, it may just be that the selectors want to give Root some experience of the big occasion. It would not be the first time England have used the one day side as a nursery for promising test cricketers. Now is the perfect time for England to blood a youngster. I hope he gets a bat next time.

richardror
on January 11, 2013, 18:01 GMT

Ashwin over-complicated things. It seemed like whenever he paused in his action he got hit for a four or six! Look at Tredwell...nice and simple, 4 for 44. Excellent bowling from him.

Jaffa79
on January 11, 2013, 18:00 GMT

Great performance from England although I do have reservations about Dernbach (little more to him than a slower ball), Kieswetter (has to realise you can score runs without hitting boundaries) and Bresnan (lost his nip in a big way.) Mind you, with Trott, Swann, Jimmy, Broad and Bairstow all missing and Hales looking so dominant, the depth to this England squad is mightily impressive.

Hash_Tag
on January 11, 2013, 17:53 GMT

Well played today England. You have broken the curse that fell upon you here in India in this format many years ago. ALSO there has been very little sledging by England fans. This is all the more surprising considering the relentless bashing that many Indians have been handing out to England ever since we were sent packing by them in 2011. Even so, this game today was a close affair only 9 runs in it over the course of 641 runs. I think we are in for a close series and I hope both sets of fans remain calm behaving with dignity. I want to see changes to this losing India side, but more especially I want to see changes to the approach of the selectors and board - they are the ones responsible of picking the players. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka fans should stick to their own forums.... do not try to settle issues here, especially when your own team is not doing particularly well.

The_bowlers_Holding
on January 11, 2013, 17:53 GMT

As predicted ie. inane comments- gsingh7 on (January 11 2013, 15:50 PM GMT) India now to win 4-1 (not 5-0) as England got lucky, India still world champions and England have never even got to a world cup final (apart from the 3 they've played in). One more win and he will be silent ala the recent test series/test series 2011.

samincolumbia
on January 11, 2013, 17:52 GMT

@InsideHedge - Dinda took 2 crucial wickets!! How much did our lead bowler, Ishant take? How many wickets did Dhoni and Srinivasan's protege, Ashwin, take?

on January 11, 2013, 17:50 GMT

Still dhoni not learnt lesson from recent defeat from last three to four series. Pujara is in life time form and also homeground what is the need to play with out of form rahane. And what about shami ahamed who given 4 maiden over in debut match agianst pakistan and still not find a chance in playing eleven.........

on January 11, 2013, 17:48 GMT

Yet another poor batting display in a flat pitch. I don't understand why Yuvaraj was not bowling.? India gave away too many runs in the first 15 overs. At this rate yet another series collapse is waiting.

on January 11, 2013, 17:48 GMT

Yet another poor batting display in a flat pitch. I don't understand why Yuvaraj was not bowling.? India gave away too many runs in the first 15 overs. At this rate yet another series collapse is waiting.

200ondebut
on January 11, 2013, 17:47 GMT

It doesn't matter who India play - England will always pwn them.

Rahulbose
on January 11, 2013, 17:42 GMT

@ Nandan Nadkarni The logic is very simple and easy to understand. Sami Ahmed and Pujara are not big players in IPL. Jadeda and Dinda are.

on January 11, 2013, 17:41 GMT

Kohli for Pujara! Kohli's had his chance and yes Shami for Dinda I don't know what they were thinking having Dinda in the side!

AvZee
on January 11, 2013, 17:36 GMT

For the first time i didn't felt sad for India , they played well even after getting a huge blow from pakistan, they kept their cool and gave england a tough fight.
Hats-off to the the Indian Players (Y)

crindex
on January 11, 2013, 17:36 GMT

Dhoni - Please Bench Ashwin, Kohli and Ishant for Pujara, Mishra and Sami . Just do it and see the magic. India will certainly win the rest of this series if DHoni makes this change.

Adonisarun
on January 11, 2013, 17:34 GMT

Why can't r why don't Indian pacers bowl Yorkers and they are feeding oppositions with juicy lengths which inturn makes difficult to Indian lower order to catch up against decent attacks in death overs. Replace ASHWIN with MISHRA.To all Dhoni bashers we are fortunate to have a leader like him I couldn't imagine any one to fill up his shoes. It's time to lift each every players individual game and play for the teams cause and not to secure their places.

on January 11, 2013, 17:33 GMT

Aswin first slip? no pujara? Dhoni came at 6 ? Dinda was replaced in the middle of great spell ( Wks of KP and morgan)? Two off spinners were bowling and sending a LHB? i hope selectors at least watching highlights of the match....

Silverbails
on January 11, 2013, 17:29 GMT

OMG!! Another mauling from England, this time in the 50 over ODI format. Looks like we could be in for another thrshu=ing here. Surely, it's time to give MSD relief over his very defensive captaincy, and look for a fresh captain for the future. Really weak display in the field, yet again. It's going to be really difficult to snap out of this losing streak!! WHEN is this pathetic team going to WIN anything?!?! Who knows...?? I bet they're really all looking forward to playing the IPL NOW!!!

crindex
on January 11, 2013, 17:29 GMT

Please bring Pujara in for Kohli. Send Kohli and Ashwin to play in domestic matches before getting back in form again. Amit Mishra will be a good replacement for Ashwin. Raina and Jadeja are good competitors. But when the whole team is failing, Dhoni, Raina and Jadeja cannot do much I guess.

Anandsadvice
on January 11, 2013, 17:29 GMT

I think India tried hard but could not finish. Dhoni needs to solve the bowlers issues for India our bowlers i think are trying hard but not hard enough we need more variation and line and length in the bowling department and cannot blame the pitch to be flat and nothing for bowlers. Infact I think we need a good bowling coach if you ask me. We need some good tips.

riverbaby11
on January 11, 2013, 17:28 GMT

Not a bad loss it just looks bad coz it continues the bad stretch ; good to see most of the batsman getting runs , Virat will catch up soon enough. Indian Fans should get some perspective , India was never a dominating team with this or any bowling attack we always won with batting and today was not a bad batting day. I hope they find a way to fit in Pujara ; may be for Jadeja / Ashwin or for one of the pacers.

Lmaotsetung
on January 11, 2013, 17:28 GMT

This was by no means a great performance by England. With the platform they got from the openers, 350-360 should have been the score. They did just enough to get over the line and am glad there won't be anymore talk of whitewash...lol Joe Root showed why his off spin will be very valuable as England's future test opener. Mohammad Hafeez he is not but could be a very useful 5th bowling option (better than Trott, Pietersen, etc). I've said Samit still has a future as an limited overs specialist and he showed us why with the bat. Take away his knock and we might well be hearing the other side chanting whitewash again. Still would rather see Bairstow or Butler behind the stumps more for their batting. I assume Trott comes back for Root but where does he fit in the batting order...that's the million dollar question. My guess is that they'll be flexible like today depending on what the openers do meaning early wicket, Trott comes in ar 3, solid opening platform, KP comes in at 3.

Harmony111
on January 11, 2013, 17:27 GMT

@Nish_US:

And cos Pujara did not play in the 1st ODI you assumed that Dhoni did not want him in the side altogether and was being obstinate?
Look, Kohli/Raina/Yuvi/Dhoni are certainties. Rahane is new, needs time, we need a min of 4 bowlers. That means we have a max of 2 slots available to try. We already have Dinda and Bhuvan there. You want to try 4 newbies in a team of 11? You got any idea how a system works? Ind would have been 150 a.o. today chasing 380.

When our bowlers fail you guys want to try new bowlers. Ok.
When our batsmen fail you want to try new batsmen. Ok.
But is it wise to ask to try new bowlers AND batsmen together?

And you are saying that Pujara can open too? You want to spoil his whole career? He is a middle order batsman, has no exp of ODIs and you want him to open? Poor guy with all his talent will be scarred for life if he fails. YOU VERY PPL will then BREY for his blood calling him a failure just like you say for Jadeja now.

Show some sense pls.

desiboy454
on January 11, 2013, 17:26 GMT

PART 2/2

For now since some of the bowlers aren't fit. & Gautam wont be dropped this should be the starting 11

This will give the stability from Pujara at 4 and yuvi, raina, virat can b the 5th bowler for now.

InsideHedge
on January 11, 2013, 17:26 GMT

Sadly Gambhir made 52. That's him locked in for the next 2 years then.

InsideHedge
on January 11, 2013, 17:26 GMT

Considering we had Ishant, Dinda and Ravi Jadeja in the team, we did well to get within 9 runs of a huge total. Not bad for a team of 8.

Albert_cambell
on January 11, 2013, 17:25 GMT

Kohli is turning out to be the future ashraful for india. in other words another Mohammed ashraful in the making.

InsideHedge
on January 11, 2013, 17:25 GMT

Ishant Sharma and Ashok Dinda are not ODI material - in the case of Dinda, he would struggle to make the starting XI of most county sides in England. Ishant always leaks runs, we see him bowling the same line and length - short of a length, outside off hoping to cut the ball slightly into the right hander. This is his stock, surprise and death delivery all rolled into one. He's a man who doesn't like to complicate his cricket.

PART 1/2
What is happening to the Indian team??? losing on a batting paradise in Rajkot? and MSD and Duncan Fletcher, what in the bloody hell are they doing. Please if the selectors cant drop MSD as captain get rid of fletcher.. Pujara on the bench? r u kidding me?? Please why are there no BCCI members there to help out Dhoni n Co, bring in an extra tactical couch or something, to help plan out before the game.

This is combination has been losing consistently. Ashwin is high on his IPL and early career form, his form is horribe right now, not even close to how he used to bowl. look to the future.. Gauti will be horrible overseas, Raina will be 50/50.. Jadeja.. idk what to say anymore. I think they need IK phatan to become the # 7 all rounder, thats the only way to defend WC in AUS. Pujara can be the Hashim Amla of India in ODIs.

Well done England! Well done! I mean to defeat India in India or anywhere on a batting pitch,be it even the current indian team,..takes some doing indeed! & England did it!. England actually had also almost pulled it off in the world cup too when india were much stronger! As for India, we did fight so relieved! no other comments! Me & 1000s of us have roughly about a million opinions lol. Even a person u meet on the street in India would have an opinion,thats us indians ;) we are passionate and fierce about our opinions heh heh! So no comments,we all know what we need! Change! Since i want to end this on a humorous note, I wonder if Jadeja cannot bat even on a batting paradise,then is he being picked for his bowling/fielding? Oh i forget! he has domestic triple centuries & a million dollar ipl contract to show on his resume! Yea that would win us matches all the time,he just has to flash his id card to the opposition!,just like 'lord of the nets' rohit sharma!,how silly of me! :P

on January 11, 2013, 17:23 GMT

Issant should makenway for Sami and GG should make way for Pujara for the next game.

gsingh7
on January 11, 2013, 17:21 GMT

@ lmao--- ur team never won 1` wc , mine is current champion of world#fact
@sellasie--- we are current champions (stress on current)and we did in past as well in 1983 at lords, same cant be said about england
@mazii- outside uae and sc , ur pak team is useless , u never won a test series in australia or england but india done both feats

Selassie-I
on January 11, 2013, 17:18 GMT

@ Posted by RandyOZ on (January 11 2013, 13:27 PM GMT)

Those imports from Essex, Birmingham, Leicester and Kent... it's the imports that are holding us back mate (other than KP of course)

All I will say is the Ashes are coming and you only have 1 test class batsman in your side. India have several.

Harmony111
on January 11, 2013, 17:18 GMT

@spiritwithin:
Listen bro, pls read that comment again. I did not say that Jadeja had a better claim to play ODIs cos he had scored more Triple Tons than Pujara.

What I had said was some Ind fans want Pujara to play the ODIs for the same reason for which they make fun of Jadeja's right to play in ODIs.

@jb633: Sadly some Ind fans are fickle and tend to shift houses a lot. Kohli fails in a few matches and he should be dropped cos suddenly they think Kohli needs to be brought to ground cos he has become arrogant or is deliberately trying to pull Dhoni down so that he becomes the captain blah blah. This is exactly how it happened in Sachin's case too. These ppl want Sachin and Kohli to score all the time and when they fail cos they are mortals these ppl show their worst colors publicly and denounce their once fav players. Ind doesn't need such fans.

@Ind fans: Frankly IMO, Pujara is not for ODIs, he is not upto it nor is he a fixture in tests. He needs time to mature else he'll break.

on January 11, 2013, 17:16 GMT

i think england should really consider making their batsman bat next time and not decide he should bowl despite doing a good job ( joe root )

on January 11, 2013, 17:15 GMT

Sehwag strikes fear in opponents eyes ..... no other indian batsman consistantly makes bowlers uneasy at every delivery they bowl.

Look, maybe he isn't in the greates form right now BUT it's not about that..It's psychological, just the same way Chris Gayle.

In all honesty he should be playing not gambhir. Plus if Dhoni wasn't such an ego maniac, the Indian team would be better off.

A_Yorkshire_Lad
on January 11, 2013, 17:14 GMT

@Mazii ( 16.27 pm ) for all his good and bad qualities , at least Dhoni is usually graceful and generous in defeat - a charge that most certainly cannot be levelled at harmony111 and gsingh !!
Cheers !

BustIPL
on January 11, 2013, 17:13 GMT

After this match india should smell a win somewhere in this ODI series. This was a flat track made look both teams as equal. England however, have some upper hand in batting for sure and that proved to be the difference. I think Kumar after his showing in two of the ODIs against Pakstan demands bolder approach from curators. Let's try once, may be risk due to english bowlers but B.Kumar needs to become an icon for indian fast bowling.

Jawad.Shaikh
on January 11, 2013, 17:11 GMT

I remember debating with my brother about Kholi when he was in beast form few months ago, I told my bro we will see when he will flop then whos gonna perform for india.. now thats exactly whats happening, kholi is not performing whole batting is down, it is about time i guess.

Whatsgoinoffoutthere
on January 11, 2013, 17:10 GMT

Nine runs is not a lot. I still think England got lucky after selecting a relatively weak bowling attack. At last Samit Patel has hit his none-too-svelte straps with the bat at international level, but Root below him and Kieswetter just ain't right. Tredders is doing just what he's picked to do: keep it tight and just get on with the job.

If anyone spots a bloke with a bag over his head leaving the ground, it's Virat Kohli, having managed to get out to Tim Bresnan. I reckon you'd back the batsman to turn it around quicker than the bowler in this case. Please England, send Bresnan back to Yorkshire for a summer, he'll come back better and stronger for it. I get the feeling we'll need him fully fit for next winter.

Albert_cambell
on January 11, 2013, 17:09 GMT

I am happy that people like Harmony111 is still commenting on this page after india losing the game. Usually he opens his bigmouth when india wins, but he goes and hide in some remeote areas when india loses. He doesnt even dare to touch the computer mouse.

Harmony111
on January 11, 2013, 17:07 GMT

@mazii: It seems you are yet to recover from the vigorous shaking I gave to you on that page from where you and your fellow Kiwirocker ran away trying to save face cos you kept making one after another idiotic points and I kept exposing your folly for all to see.

In that page I had advised you to get some English lessons cos you seem to find it diff to understand it. Here too, you said I am making excuses about Ind's defeat. Well, I've made numerous comments here, search them and show me ONE excuse I've made.

It is clear you did not even read my comments and made that comment cos you just can't say anything more robust or meaningful. You are otherwise speechless in front of me and were looking here and there on that page to somehow give rejoinders to me. I would have loved to see your face cos you kept saying you are laughing you are laughing --- at your own folly haan?

on January 11, 2013, 17:06 GMT

getsetgopk: dear brother what happend to pak when they meet in WC what wrong all those pacers attack and spins .. UAE pitch always prepared for pak go check the records ..from ur brother..

Albert_cambell
on January 11, 2013, 17:06 GMT

Can they atleast win englands U19 team? I doubt it.

on January 11, 2013, 17:03 GMT

Dhoni proved a winner yet again..how dumb can he get ?
Get Pujara and Shami Ahmed in the team..drop Dinda and Jadeja/Yuvraj..

brusselslion
on January 11, 2013, 17:03 GMT

@MAR00N5 on January 11 2013, 16:25 PM: A basically meaningless ODI becomes a "sweet win" for England fans precisely because of the reaction of some Indian fans such as you, Bruisers and gsingh. Instead of taking it on the chin and congratulating England on a close win (or at least remaining quiet), you post comments boasting of past glories and offering thinly veiled insults to the opposition.

With apologies to the decent Indian posters such as @bhrangi, is it any wonder that, whatever the series or tournament, most neutrals adopt an 'Anyone but India' position when asked who they want to win?

BustIPL
on January 11, 2013, 17:02 GMT

@Sukh Grover: But you have won the worldcup under him.

on January 11, 2013, 17:02 GMT

I simply dont understand why Ashok Dinda who is the best death over bowler in the Indian Team did not bowl last 2 overs though he had 2 overs left and why did dhoni gave the bowling to Ishant when he was 70 odd in 9 overs..Dinda was bowling descently with yorkers and mixing slow balls...That over cost India the match..Dhoni is really tired now...

Harmony111
on January 11, 2013, 17:01 GMT

@Nish_US:

1. Manoj Tiwary - he is unlucky, I agree.
2. Rahane - Same.
3. Irfan is injured IMO, how can he play then?
4. Jadeja plays as an AR, we don't have options there except Tiwary, see 1.
5. RP in Eng? It was cos our bowlers were getting injured and we hardly had any options.

U can't try 3 rookies/game Learn to be a bit more optimistic. Look at Eng. They shout out that Tests are #1 priority for them. How long did their reign last? < 12 months. Yet do their fans give that imp? They are not disheartened. We need to be resolute and hopeful. I see no reason why we should feel down after today's match. It was a close match, Ind could have won it too. I am not worried too much.

What I'd hope for is a good fast bowling coach. Srinath could tell these brainless bowlers to pitch up cos Srinath himself bowled like them for years to get hit and once he learnt it he got wickets.

What do you mean Ind has been losing for years? Years? Get your facts right else don't comment here. Good Bye.

Nampally
on January 11, 2013, 16:59 GMT

Dhoni's irrational XI selection is costing India heavily, almost every match. Despite all the Fans asking for Pujara in XI & total absence of batting sheet anchor, Pujara was dropped- after he had scored a triple century just 2 days back on same ground. Also dropping Shami after he won the match against Pakistan was totally illogical. Unless India plays without Dhoni's captaincy, they have very little chance of winning any ODI's. India A & Delhi beat England very easily. Giving 325 runs to this England side begs the question whether these guys know how to bowl at all? Batting was just as irresponsible - Yuvraj, Raina & jadeja getting out to foolish shots on a plumb batting wkt. where anything <100 shows batting faiolure! Pujara would have got his maiden ODI century very easily on his home wkt. Kohli after totalling 13 in 3 ODI's vs. Pak. was preferred to Pujara & scored just 15 in this ODI!.Do form & performance matter at all in Team selection. You cannot drop your best bat & Win.

IAS2009
on January 11, 2013, 16:58 GMT

jb633, this article is about india not pakistan, pakistan will not loose like india did in england not a single win, pakistan have better test and ODI record abroad than India, Pakistan drew with Aussies in England also and with no so called super stars in team. with so many runs Indian Batsmen have scored in last 15 y there are not that many wins to show against those record. If not for Ganguly India would not have won anything abroad look at their record after Ganguly retirement abroad, only flat track bullies at home like SL. Pakistan batting is week but they will perform lot better than India with batting (35K runs between batsman) Pakistan at least beat England once i that test series with completely new batting line up. India almost lost 3-0 in ODI at least give some credit to other team, It is all India looks like. First of All get DRS and don't hide behind umpires mistake.

Front-Foot-Lunge
on January 11, 2013, 16:56 GMT

So England are the better team. Correction, England's youngsters are better than India's established, world cup winning, game closing, 'superstars'. Makes sense -England at test cricket have been streets ahead of teams like India and Australia for at least five years now, it looks like their one-day team is catching up.

on January 11, 2013, 16:54 GMT

Tredwell pick of England bowlers, bowled off spin and claimed 4 for 44. Raina ended up bowling just 5 overs on a day when he seemed to be in his rhythm. Did Captain Dhoni erred in his judgement here. Dinda has been leaking 6s off his bowling so regularly, it feels he is always in a net practice, club bowler giving some match practice to the visitors in town. Lucky chap keeps getting opportunity ahead of potentials like Shami Ahmed. Doubt anybody has ever had 4 maidens on the trot playing his first international. Good times don't last for long and so has Kohli's great run of 2012. New year has not brought too much of a joy for him. Yuvraj in present form should come ahead of him I feel. Changes required, Amit Mishra replacing Ravindra Jadeja, Shami Ahmed replacing Ashok Dinda, Yuvraj bat at number 3, Dhoni at 4, followed by Kohli at 5 and Raina 6.

Nish_US
on January 11, 2013, 16:48 GMT

@Harmony111

I am not going all out for wholesale changes... but when you are losing consistently and then there is a chap performing brilliantly you should be able to find one single slot for him.

Rotate the players a while.. until you find the winning combination. and then stick with it..
if they fall back into losing ways, go back to drawing board, see where you are failing and make the change.

Meanwhile build a bench strength in case someone gets hurt.. once again its important that you give games to the people of bench now and then to keep them match fit and motivated. and do not just take them for world tours if you have no intention of giving a single game, even after you win/lose the series....

jb633
on January 11, 2013, 16:47 GMT

@Harmony111- I could not agree more (even from an Eng perspective). Kholi is not in great form at present but he has the ability to be a great player. Only 5 months ago these same fans would rush onto cricinfo to conratulate the splending innings they have just watched Kholi play.
If India are to drop anyone it has got to be either Ghmbir or Raina. Over the years these guys have proved to be failures and considering that the next WC is in OZ India should look at players who will be able to play in all conditions, not the flinching Raina's and Ghambir's. Yes they played well today but they are average players and will not perform in Australia as, Raina can't play the short ball and Ghambir snicks off to the away swinger all too easily.
The main problem with India is the dynamics of the side. On too many occasions have they been left desperatley needing a fifth bowler. They can use Ashwin as they second spinning all rounder but they need an out and out spinner in the ODI team too.

Noboundary
on January 11, 2013, 16:47 GMT

The India A team put on a better show than our main team! I still feel GG needs to make way for someone else.. like Dhawan who di great against England a few days ago. Our bowling continues to be spineless... Ashwin, Kumar are all mediocre stuff. Where is Shami? Why is Pujara warming the bench?

Lmaotsetung
on January 11, 2013, 16:46 GMT

Posted by gsingh7 on (January 11 2013, 09:58 AM GMT) - "people slacking patel should give a rest , this indian origin lad is better player than most in indian conditions, also gavaskar cheerleading for dinda was funny and depressing at same time, india wud thrash english bowlers to all parts of gujarat to win big here , 5-0 whitewash awaits for english side and fans".....keep making predictions. Now I see you are predicting 4-1 to India...LMAO!

on January 11, 2013, 16:46 GMT

Even though we won I don't understand Englands tactics we have a proper opener in Root who isn't given a bat then turns in the second most economical bowling stint of the innings and a bowling all rounder (Patel) who cant bowl and Dernbach ?? bowling the last over why

mazii
on January 11, 2013, 16:45 GMT

Shan156... I think Pakistan got out Australia on 88 in test match and went on to win the match. Pakistan won a single test against in England. Yes we lost in Sri Lanka, England and Australia. But, barring few, matches Pakistan bowling has been good that was our batting that let us down. Ajmal also bowled well in England and Australia. I don't understand why people are against Ajmal and drag him in every discussion. He did well well in every form of cricket. He has proved himself and now in India against India he did good too. I wonder what Ajmal has to do to more?

Indian_Cricket_Fanatic
on January 11, 2013, 16:45 GMT

As an indian you'd wish some players shall perform better than others and they be selected. But most players playing are well based on their merit and at the end it comes down to execution. Virat kohli is having a bad phase and needs some freshness could be well dropped for pujara if you want an option.Shami ahmed's exclusion was pretty much a surprise as he had done well and looked good while bowling.
Like I assumed ishant sharma and Bhuvneshwar kumar against pakistan was a different ball game. On non-swinging pitches Bhuvneshwar does not bowl well and it wouldnt affect the british side even if its swinging. Ishant bowls short and outside off= good only for tests. Dinda despite his economy is a wicket takin bowler. I am happy with jadeja. Who I am not happy with is ASHWIN, always a loud mouth chap & equally honest with his abilities. But he simply has not been performing since quite a while.
2nd odi replacements: shami for ishant,pujara for kohli...or kohli can continue.

Al_Bundy1
on January 11, 2013, 16:45 GMT

@MAR00N5 - i told u so - Delhi won against England because they didn't have Gambhir, Kohli and Ishant in their team. Replace Gambhir with Dhawan, Kohli with Pujara, and Ishant with Shami Ahmed, Indian team can also win against England.

on January 11, 2013, 16:43 GMT

under Dhoni's captaincy we will never win.so change the leader

Aravind_always
on January 11, 2013, 16:43 GMT

Not a long time ago only Kohli plays well and all others struggled,but still India win..now all others except kohli are scoring,still India lose..what it shows??When Kohli is in form he finishes the matches for India..now that he is out of form nobody takes that role and India can't finish the matches.so India badly needs an in form Kohli..

StarHawk
on January 11, 2013, 16:43 GMT

Well played England. It really is a testing time for us Indian fans. For India, I don't think it's got anything to do with talent. I think team selection was poor. Pujara should've played today. He's in the form of his life and he should've been the first name down on the playing XI after the captain. Remove whoever you need to remove from the playing XI to accommodate him. Whether its Gambhir or Raina or Jadeja. Also, Shami Ahmed bowled exceptionally well against Pakistan, but he couldn't find a place in the playing XI?

Another thing I found baffling is how come Yuvraj Singh didn't even bowl 1 over? I noticed even in the Pakistan ODIs, Yuvraj was given only 3 overs in the entire series. Today, even Kohli bowled an over, but not Yuvraj Singh. Maybe he could've been given a few overs when Kevin Pietersen was batting. Looks like Yuvraj is Dhoni's next target. Don't give him overs...hope he fails with the bat, then we can kick him out of the team!

Selassie-I
on January 11, 2013, 16:43 GMT

Posted by gsingh7 on (January 11 2013, 15:50 PM GMT) in fact yes, England have been in the WC finals, a few times.

Your attitude seems to be similar to that of your teams, well we lost here but we won this a few years back, wait till we play you at home, that was just a green top, they doctored the pitch etc. etc. Man up and give some praise where it's due. Like I said earlier, India played well today, it was a close match. But talk about the match today not about a tournament 2 years ago.. if you keep dwelling on that then what chance have you of progressing?

Al_Bundy1
on January 11, 2013, 16:41 GMT

I think @Harmony111 is Dhoni in disguise - our batting line up is all set - there's no need for change!! That argument would have been fine if India was winning all its matches. But we have been on the losing end for a couple of years now!!!!!!!

Albert_cambell
on January 11, 2013, 16:41 GMT

We shoudnt carried away after beating a substandard team like india. We have stiff coming ahead in the ashes.So we should rest our players and keep them fit. We should play our U19 team rest of the series. Atleast this substandard indian team can be competitive against our U19 team.

Nish_US
on January 11, 2013, 16:40 GMT

And Dhoni saying he does not know how Pujara fits in the scheme of things...

Come on it is just 50 overs to begin with, thats why people who started in middle order could easily switch to top and vice versa...If Dravid could open, then Pujara can open too... I mean any of the top 5 should be fine for him, as long as you do not ask him to hit out on 10 or few deliveries

And now with two balls from either side.. so the ball is going to be just 25 overs old......
The ball is not going to change much over 25 overs.. so do not worry about specialist positions any more

PanGlupek
on January 11, 2013, 16:40 GMT

@MAR00N5, Samit Patel. Have you not heard of him, or were you assuming he was born in India?

TNAmarkFromIndia
on January 11, 2013, 16:38 GMT

Ashwin has been bowling pathetically. Even Jadeja is bowling much, MUCH better than him, which says a lot. They need to get Pujara in the next match. Either in the place of Kohli (which is unlikely) or Ashwin.

on January 11, 2013, 16:37 GMT

Shan156: Hmm, So you are claiming you have great knowledge.
Pakistan's tour to England was not one sided.
Pakistan managed to win 2 ODI's and a Test match ( inspite of fixing fiasco).
-And remember Asia Cup ? Pakistan won the Asia Cup ( was played outside UAE, wasn't it? )
-And remember World T20 ? Like always Pak reached Semi-Final.
You can't ignore these.

And coming to this match, India should have played Shami Ahmed and Pujara.
Irfan Pathan was a way better option than 'Sir' Ravindra Jadeja. He is not even in the squad.

Malti65
on January 11, 2013, 16:37 GMT

@ StatisticsRocks :

I agree with that once Pujara had made it to ground from his Ranji assingments, he should not have been made to carry drinks. He definately deserved to be in the eleven.

Regarding your comment about playing Dinda for Shami Ahmed, I think you meant playing Shami for Dinda, because Dinda was already in the eleven today. Personally I Think both these fast bowlers are young & nippy , though I was more impressed after seeing Shami bowl in the last ODI against Pakistan. I think there has to be some continuity. Once a younster performs well he should not be left out for no rime or reason. In the bowling department I am also getting tired of watching Ishant being inconsitent with his line & length. I think Shami & Dinda both could have played in this match at the expense of Ishant.

.

mazii
on January 11, 2013, 16:37 GMT

With every game passing by some Indian fans here are giving inane excuses. India played well though in this match but England was the better team here. B. Kumar and Ishant went for many because these bowlers didn't bowl well in the last overs.

Nish_US
on January 11, 2013, 16:36 GMT

@Harmony111

How would you justify

1. Manoj making a 100 in the last ODI appearance and not featuring ever after
2. Rahane waiting on sidelines for ever and now putting too much pressure (same will happen to Manoj and Pujara if you make them wait forever when they are in their prime form)
3. Irfan making a dream comeback time and again.. and Dhoni rueing not having a genuine alrounder
4. Jadeja & Rohit able to get in, without Dhoni ever have to think how they fit in
5. RP apprearing all of a sudden in ENG

ooooo.. the list goes on and on.....

Raj12345
on January 11, 2013, 16:35 GMT

Very simple to all of us. Not sure how many you will get my point. The current team will be loosing for anyway reason. At the end of the reason..you will be seeing "Bowlers are new they need some time to learn". The reason we are seeing high score on board and putting dead pitch is more simple. They want to show some runs on board by poor batsman in team. So at the end ODI series, all indian struggling batman will have more runs under them so easy to getting selected for next series.

on January 11, 2013, 16:33 GMT

If England don't really trust Root to be able to keep up the pace of an ODI innings then I can't see why they selected him in the first place. I was impressed with him in the last Test match but I thought that James Taylor would have been a more logical selection to replace Bairstow in the squad. For the same reason, Buttler seems a more logical selection for the XI in this series but Root will probably retain his place as much for his bowling performance as anything. With all the seamers going for runs and the spinners keeping it fairly tight, if they're not going to play Briggs, which i think is a mistake, then they're unlikely to drop Root and loose his bowling. I thought that it would have been worth bowling KP for an over or two tonight as well, especially against the left-handers. He may have got a bit of extra bounce due to his height. Maybe one or two opposition fans will stop poking fun at Tredwell now. He doesn't look much but he keeps on perfroming.

BRUTALANALYST
on January 11, 2013, 16:32 GMT

If I was selecting for ECB BUTLER would be picked over KIESWETTER every time in the short formats both T20 and ODI as he has shown to be a much better finisher

guitarboy
on January 11, 2013, 16:32 GMT

Ha ha ha cheer up india ipl is around the corner

jb633
on January 11, 2013, 16:31 GMT

@various Indian fans- although I am English I happen to agee with all of you with regards to the lack of quality in the author's articles. Altough it is impossible to remove nationalistic ties they must be suppressed as much as possible. IMO the best cricket journalists in the world are those that can give a balanced view regardless of the situation. The best commentators/ writers around the world are: Benaud, David Llyod, Rahul Dravid, Shaun Pollock, Ramiz Raja, Akash Chopra (writer) and Tony Cozier. Altough they are not all freqent guests in the box I have bags of time as they actually educate their listeners/ readers on the game. There is nothing worse than reading/listening to a guy who always has the hidden agenda.

wiseshah
on January 11, 2013, 16:30 GMT

2nd class bowling unit of england beats world class media lover indian superstar. Lets see who is missing: anderson, broad, swann, trott, prior, ---ooops half of main xi is missing

on January 11, 2013, 16:30 GMT

England 325/4 in the first ODI.
South Africa 325/4 at the end of first day.
And 35 boundaries in both of 'em. Pretty good coincidence :) :)

md4cric
on January 11, 2013, 16:29 GMT

Samit Patel hit well.What's the technique of playing Tredwell?I'm sure Coach should know or for that matter Sunny,Shashtri and other commentators know.Pak played Yuvi late on the backfoot and negated the impact he had during 2011 WC.I think similarly Tredwell could be played with some risk by getting on the knees for Square cutting like Vishy did.This series is going to be close than I thought as Indian batsman are lacking the tech to play Tredwell

Nish_US
on January 11, 2013, 16:28 GMT

@Harmony111

Well I think Indian cricket team is currently having a serious problem, whether you look at the big picture or divide it into nuts and bolts

But none of those that are part of the problem are showing even the slightest inkling of accepting that there is a problem..

Every one is in a state of self denial and just hoping for that one big knock that will save them for the next few years

I am fine with sticking to a team ...a winning team...
but when you are losing consistently for not weeks, months, but now into years....and if still are afraid to face the fact that the problem indeed is a GIANT...

if you fail to prepare/adapt.... prepare to fail

30-30-150
on January 11, 2013, 16:27 GMT

@Cricfan_99.. Did you actually see Jadeja's bowling today? He was picked as a specialist bowler and he did his job beautifully. Period.

stumpedlloyd
on January 11, 2013, 16:27 GMT

Next ODI, bring in Chris Woakes for Tim Bresnan? I just get the feeling that Bresnan isn't bowling with any venom, really. He didn't in England and he certainly isn't on the subcontinent. Woakes also is a better bat, isn't he?

mazii
on January 11, 2013, 16:27 GMT

Harmony111 and gsingh should have been in Indian team to give excuses in hindsight because in all comments they always come up with some more excuses. But they are better in the same than Dhoni.

30-30-150
on January 11, 2013, 16:25 GMT

@Bruisers.. CORRECTION- "England had lost 15 of their last 16 ODIs against India in India" It's actually 16 of the last 17 because, India won 6-1 in 2005/06, 5-0 in 2008/09 and 5-0 in 2011. Undoubtedly this is a SWEET WIN for the English, haha.

Malti65
on January 11, 2013, 16:23 GMT

@ spiritwithin :

Nice point, Jadeja as a batsman is no better than Ashwin. Now i also feel that Ashwin as a bowler is no better than Jadeja. I don't understand how this is happening. Ashwin is supposed to be the specialist spinner but is being outperformed by Jadeja, atleast for the time being. Though Jadeja did not do well in Australia. And Ashwin is giving Jadeja a good competion for the No.8 batting spot.

Also after the first match blitz on debute, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar is not showing that spark of brilliance anymore. Or is it that the Pakistani batting was just not good enough on a track that assisted the seamers.

.

on January 11, 2013, 16:23 GMT

India have good players. No question, but they're not as good as England's current crop of players. These are the best players India probably have but that's not necessarily good enough. Kholi is a good player if perhaps a tad grumpy. Rihane is also a mighty fine player. The seam bowlers are pretty good. But Raina is not great, nor is Ghambir. Dhoni is under a lot of pressure and he's feeling it. Yes England have lost badly before, but the fact is now they're winning. So something's going wrong.

CricketingStargazer
on January 11, 2013, 16:22 GMT

@gsingh7 If you are saying that England has never reached the World Cup final, it is patently untrue. England even reached the World Cup final the first time the competition was held in India, beating India in the semi-final. However, it is true that England have the sad record of being finalists three times, but never winning and have not reached the final in any recent addition. This has to change and change fast. I am glad that England won and feel that they deserved to, but am somewhat less than happy that India were allowed to get so close, which they should not have been; it was uncomfortably like the Delhi match where England were on top after 30 overs and let the match slip away.

indiasupbangalore
on January 11, 2013, 16:22 GMT

Ha ha I love it when india lost the game in a flat track. Loved to see the expression on dhoni's face it was priceless. If they really want to win next match, india has to do three change (pujara for kohli), (mishra for ashwin), (sami for dinda).

jb633
on January 11, 2013, 16:21 GMT

@Shezad Niamani- Pakistan are only good at home though. They have a decent bowling attack but the batting is woeful. TBH I was very suprised that India lost to Pakistan as I still think Pakistan lack any talent with the bat. I guess it shows you what state Indian cricket is currently in. The last time Pak played Eng in ODI cricket your side was whitewashed. I think the moment that Pakistan play in ENG/AUS/SA they will be whitewashed in all forms of the game. When the ball bounces properly Ajmal won't be any threat and Gul will get hammered.
Pakistan should be careful about being arrogant as they haven't played the "big 3" in their own backyards for a while. India have played all the toughest fixtures recently and it is easy for the mocking fans to forget this. Having watched PAK vs Ind recently I don't see PAK being any threat unless the ball doesn't bounce properly. I am afraid PAK batsmen will come up woefully short against any decent seam bowling.

30-30-150
on January 11, 2013, 16:19 GMT

Who is the best "English-born" middle order-batsman in this ODI team? JOE ROOT? LOL it's first time I hear his name :D

jmcilhinney
on January 11, 2013, 16:19 GMT

@Aziz51 on (January 11 2013, 15:19 PM GMT), most reasonable England fans rated India favourites too though. Even now, I think most England fans would give you even money at best. This game was close and could have gone either way and England's bowling could still do with some improvement.

Shan156
on January 11, 2013, 16:16 GMT

@getsetgopk, before you make those tall claims, what have Pakistan achieved outside the UAE of late? Beating England was an achievement considering that England were the #1 side at that time. But what matters more are victories overseas. Pakistan have been thumped by England in England, by Aus. in Aus (God knows when was the last time they managed to win a test in Aus), and even lost to SL in SL. You claim that Pak. have the 2nd best pace attack and claim you have cricket knowledge. Potential means zilch, where are the results? What are the achievements of Pak. bowlers outside UAE? If you are going to refer to the ODI series win against India in India, then we will have to refer to our ODI series whitewash against you in the UAE. If you are talking tests, Pak. have achieved nothing outside the UAE.

Good win England. Glad that the series result will be different this time. Now, go on and win another game or two.

StatisticsRocks
on January 11, 2013, 16:16 GMT

Yay! We crossed 300 against ENG which in itself calls for celebration. Dhoni until and unless u drop ur chela Jadeja forget about winning any ODI matches. I would rather play Unmukt or Pujara for Jadeja. Dinda for Shami Ahmed....Seriously do these people picking the team having brains or what! When a common cricket fan like us understand what 11 should be playing why cant these morons who pick the teams to represent our national side. Pujara is there to fetch drinks instead he could have been playing ranji practising for the longer form of the game. I suggest send Pujara to play county cricket in ENG, and anywhere else to get used to those conditions. I hope ENG don;t get too carried away by these victories as they are beating a side not worthy of ICC tests or ODI's.

jmcilhinney
on January 11, 2013, 16:16 GMT

@tickcric on (January 11 2013, 15:24 PM GMT), I agree that that seemed an odd choice by Dhoni. I thought that Dinda would bowl overs 48 and 50 with Kumar bowling 49.

henchart
on January 11, 2013, 16:15 GMT

@gsingh7: There are too many 'last times' in your discovery of Indian wins.This time and in fact recent times India is and has been losing.

on January 11, 2013, 16:15 GMT

i dont really know why pujara not picked up 2day

Harmony111
on January 11, 2013, 16:14 GMT

I am surprised no one has blamed Sachin for this loss and for the recent loss vs Pak ... wait ... he has retired so the usual Sachin bashers don't have that sausage anymore.

I am surprised that Rohit & Pujara both missed out on this match. And whats worst for Pujara is that all the other batsmen have have scored runs. So will he have to wait a little longer to make his ODI debute ?

The only opening I see is Jadeja because he is not gettig much runs, but he is bowling well. Infact better than Ashwin. So will we see Ashwin going out ? I don't know. That may be a difficult one. It may prolong Pujara's wait just a little.

Not good for a man in such great form. I don't want him getting frustrated on the bench, that way he may loose form.

.

on January 11, 2013, 16:13 GMT

I simply dont understand why Ashok Dinda who is the best death over bowler in the Indian Team did not bowl last 2 overs though he had 2 overs left and why did dhoni gave the bowling to Ishant when he was 70 odd in 9 overs..Dinda was bowling descently with yorkers and mixing slow balls...That over cost India the match..Dhoni is really tired now...

on January 11, 2013, 16:12 GMT

Indian Teams are only breaking heart of Indian Fans.Each and every crickter is just making his person score and getting in order to reserve his place in Team.Sorry to say nobody bothers TEAM INDIA wins or Lose.Personal milestone are important for them.Is it Team INDIA or TEAM CHENNAI .I dont understand.New Spinner should be introduced.IF Batsman have started well then they should finish it well.Kohli is not getting a good start.He is a good finisher.Jadeja is useless player.Where is MUNAF PATEl, Irfan.GOD BLESS INDIAN CRICKET TEAM.

SomersetJord
on January 11, 2013, 16:11 GMT

India's specialist spinner let them down today, for some reason Ashwin seemed to think he need to do something magical so kept trying stupid things. What was he doing with the constant stopping in his delivery stride? Every time I saw him do that the ball went for either 4 or 6. You just have to look at the scorecard, the spinners who fared well were line and length spinners who get a touch of turn, Tredwell, Root, & Patel are all like that for England, and Jadeja & Raina did it for India. I'm surprised Yuvraj wasn't given a twirl, he's been exceptional with the ball for India since the world cup. Also, Ishant was rubbish today, complete and utter trash, for some reason he kept shooting dirty looks at everyone like it was their fault he was bowling such tosh. If there is another flat track in this series which undoubtedly there will be, India will need a different pace bowler.

on January 11, 2013, 16:11 GMT

todays failure,like dhoni said bowlers r new they need time in international cricket alot,but what abt aussies ,southafrica and pakistan . they also have new bowlers but how they act against the formats. why dhoni not coming frontline and release pressure ,when he made 183 whats his batting order.i admit that he is a wonderful captain and wicket keeper batsman india got. but little more courage we expect from him,,because india lossing series in regularly.....

WinIndia12345
on January 11, 2013, 16:10 GMT

Why Jadeja is keep playing without deliver match winner performance. India A team beaten England last week. Why not pick players from that team. Team selectors sucks. Dnt know their job. Manoj tiwari did not got enough chances. Rohit sharma got so many chances n failed. team India learn from Australia, chose players based on performance not just based on popularity.

ADB1
on January 11, 2013, 16:10 GMT

Well done, England. I thought having Dernbach and Bresnan in the bowling attack was going to lose us the game, but we squeezed home. Really think it's time these two were let go - Bressie hasn't been the same after his op and Dernbach was never good enough in the first place. Hope Dernbach's couple of wickets don't cloud the selectors' judgement on this one. I hope Bressie can come back as he's a whole-hearted tryer, but he's a liability at the mo. Time to try Meaker and Woakes.

Who would have thought Joe Root was selected for his bowling?

henchart
on January 11, 2013, 16:10 GMT

Ideally ,for the Cochin ODI,Kohli-Sharma-Ashwin trio should be benched and Misra-Pujara-Shami Ahmed included.But that is not going to happen.Sharma would make way for Shami and Ashwin could be replaced by Misra with finger blow cited as injury while Kohli will play on the strength of his past performances. Pujara will fetch water and gloves .

Akshita29
on January 11, 2013, 16:10 GMT

A good match. England batted superbly though they could have attacked little more . Indian batsman tried hard and English fast bowlers kept bowling the leg side boundary balls . English spinners bowled well . England have sent a bit weaker bowling line up yet It's far better than that of India . And this English batting line up looks perfect for Indian conditions . Indian spinners have to perform much better in the remaining matches for India to have any chance of winning the series .

jmcilhinney
on January 11, 2013, 16:10 GMT

@gerrardl on (January 11 2013, 15:36 PM GMT), comments like that were barely worth half a smile the first time around but they got old a long time ago. You might try something original and perhaps something intelligent too, or maybe just don;t comment at all if that's the best you can manage.

on January 11, 2013, 16:09 GMT

See the bright side.... Dhoni did not give chance to rohit sharma

stumpedlloyd
on January 11, 2013, 16:09 GMT

@gsingh7: I think you're selling yourself and India short, mate. Why only harp on the recent World Cup win? You forgot Ajit Wadekar leading India to a test series win in England in 1971. Surely you can still get some valuable mileage out of that Oval win. I know you expected a whitewash again, but I'm glad you can still think back to the previous one. By the way, how did India do in the recent home test series against England on tailor-made wickets?

Bruisers
on January 11, 2013, 16:07 GMT

@vkypak - The difference is this: Four of Ajmal's 5 wickets were inconsequential in that match (since they were of batsmen 7-11), whereas all four of Tredwell's wickets today were of the Top 5 batsmen. Hope you get the logic and move on.

chandajaan
on January 11, 2013, 16:05 GMT

Why not Man of the the Match to Dhoni, Just to make sure he will win next match

jmcilhinney
on January 11, 2013, 16:05 GMT

@Deva83 on (January 11 2013, 15:40 PM GMT), our memory doesn't need any refreshing thanks. We know exactly what England's record is like but winning this one match does mean that England were better in this one match than India. That's despite many an India fan telling us that, even though England had reversed their fortunes in the Test series, India were still a far superior ODI side and would win 5-0 with ease. So, considering the rest of this series, what do you consider to be the more important indicators: ODIs played years ago by different players where India beat England or all the games played so far on this tour, where England hold an overall lead of 4-2 across the three formats? It's rather stupid telling us that England are not a great side when we haven't claimed that they are. All we've claimed is that England are good enough to give India a run for their money in ODIs at the moment. Most England fans are still saying that India are favourites to take the series.

Harmony111
on January 11, 2013, 16:05 GMT

@Nish_US: Why are you so impatient in dropping players at the drop of hat? Looks like you would change the whole team en mass and will pick 3-4 new players per match. Instead of identifying and viewing things in isolation you are looking at them together and then trying to solve the problem. Is that how you solve problems in your life? Do you put them all together to make a giant of a problem or do you divide and conquer?

Detectiveagent
on January 11, 2013, 16:04 GMT

Two evenly matched sides from the looks of this ODI, should be a great series if this continues. Today could have gone either way, narrow margins decided this one. Shame this series is not combined with Pakistan series to make it a triangular competition.

on January 11, 2013, 16:02 GMT

Even Fernando Torres would have scored century in this track!!!!! Well, India finished poorly-in both batting and bowling dept..

Bruisers
on January 11, 2013, 16:02 GMT

@mk44 - It's a SURPRISE win because England had lost 15 of their last 16 ODIs against India in India (in bilateral ties) :P

on January 11, 2013, 16:01 GMT

india bamboozled again..lol

spiritwithin
on January 11, 2013, 16:01 GMT

@Harmony..i dont think Jadeja deserves a place in the team and the reason are-
he's just a part time bowler just like yuvi and like sehwag(in his early days),so him being in the team sud be solely for his batting and he's a total failure as a batsman at any position....
now coming to another point-u said jadeja scored two triple centuryin domestic league hence he deserve his chances in the team more than pujara,yes on hindsight that sud be the case but again Sir Jadeja is not an accomplished batsman as his triple century suggests and thats y Pujara was in the test as a genuine batsman above jadeja..in ODI we need a specialist player or a genuine allrounder not bit and pieces players like Jadeja who's part timer both with bat and ball,anyboy with an open mind can see that Jadeja as a batsman is no better than ashwin...

WarwickshireBlue
on January 11, 2013, 15:59 GMT

India beaten at the "Disney" cricket they love so much. England don't care about it, rest their players (Swann, Anderson) and remain No 1 in the world in this format. LOL!!

The_Ashes
on January 11, 2013, 15:58 GMT

India are a declining team with fading stars :)

tickcric
on January 11, 2013, 15:58 GMT

The two teams almost matched each other in both batting and bowling. England just edged ahead through that Samit Patel blast. On the other hand the Indian players fought but it seems the series of bad & mediocre performances have robbed them of the champion's spirit. From the start to the end of the chase India remained that tad behind what was needed and never got in top of the situation... Well it was a contest & India went down fighting so I am not all disappointed. Want to see a bit more punch from each & every player

Bruisers
on January 11, 2013, 15:57 GMT

@EnglishCricket - Still haven't gotten over this "billion people" thing? -.- Okay, Delhi (population 12 million) beat England (population 70 million) a few days ago. Not to forget England, as usual, had a bit of 'overseas flavour' in their team while Delhi weren't even fielding half of their regular XI :) Cricinfo publish plz :)

Nutcutlet
on January 11, 2013, 15:57 GMT

It's clear that Cheteshwar Pujara & Dhoni are not the best of mates. Dhoni summoned for a helmet (I think it was) & then a yellow-jacketed Pujara appeared rather too slowly for his captain's liking. Then there was a serious dressing-down in full view of the cameras, captain to newcomer. Welcome to team India, young man! Now, can anyone imagine Alistair Cook berating a young squad member in the same way, with millions looking on? A cultural difference, no doubt..

Nish_US
on January 11, 2013, 15:56 GMT

@Harmony111

How many chances will you be given at work, if you fail
As many as Rohit, raina, jadeja , when some intern is doing great like pujara?

Will you stay put with such people if you own the company and keep the intern away...just because he does not fit in your plan yet... or just because you have not figured it out yet.

even after losing project after project... paying penalties on late/sub-standard deliverables......

DeathKnell
on January 11, 2013, 15:55 GMT

@gerrardl - i think u need to advice SL board first,...for the wonderful show of ur boys.. be it downunder or at home...

ste13
on January 11, 2013, 15:54 GMT

I agree with most of you that Dhoni should have collected another MoM award. In fact, he was the only player to score 4 sixes - the second best scored 2 only. Also, he came as no six- he was then placed perfectly in the middle of the order. Moreover, when I look in the scorecard, he is marked with *+, which I think is another proof that he is a special one, and should be rewarded properly.

jmcilhinney
on January 11, 2013, 15:54 GMT

While batting is what let England down in the Test series against Pakistan, fielding was the biggest problem against SA and basically cost them that series. I said before the India Test series that the main thing I wanted to see from England was an improvement in the field, particularly in their catching. After the first Test, I did indeed see that improvement and it seems to have continued. There were a couple of fumbles on the boundary that went for four but you can excuse that with such a fast outfield. The most important thing is that England took most of the chances that came their way. Bresnan was unlucky not to have dismissed Raina with the ball still being totally within his hand although it did touch the grass as well. Cook misjudged a leading edge that he may have been able to take but those are not always easy. Morgan also grassed a chance but it was very tough off a full-blooded shot from Dhoni. All the regulation chances were taken though, which was not always the case.

getsetgopk
on January 11, 2013, 15:52 GMT

Robertson Massey: Pak whitewashed Eng in UAE, was there something fishy about that one too mate? Pak has the second best pace attack after SA and second best to none when it comes to spin bowling, a little cricket knowledge would do you great good here.

10Devils
on January 11, 2013, 15:52 GMT

Wow exciting start. The series going to good one. But selectors think seriously about Ishant. What role is he playing in the team? and also Kohli should get a wake up call. We do have better bowlers than Dinda and Jadeja.

Prakmca
on January 11, 2013, 15:51 GMT

Bad to see India losing again.

Shami should have played ahead of Dinda. I don't what special quality Dinda is having. He knows only to bowl short and wide easy for batsman to thrash. we cannot have 2 bad bowlers in a playing eleven. The otherone is Ishant - His poor and pathetic bowling cost the match today.

Again, Jadeja - batted with the strike rate of 77%. He is not able to rotate the strike at all... Bhuvi is trying to hit the ball hard..

gsingh7
on January 11, 2013, 15:50 GMT

@ luke cannon --- last i check we won wc at home soil which ur team nevr won or being to the finals , we also whitewashed england 5-0 last two series this will be 4-1 india win as due to unseen conditions india fluffed their chances , we still world champions till 2015 , 2 and half years atleast till we remain world champions

Al_Bundy1
on January 11, 2013, 15:50 GMT

Compare Ashwin's figures with that of Trdewell. Ashwin is another over-hyped mediocre spinner. It's time to "rest" Kohli for a couple of games. Try Pujara at #3. It's also time to get rid of Ishant Sharma - Shami Ahmed is a much better bowler.

on January 11, 2013, 15:49 GMT

That's the best result......The overhyped India team is now playing to its true potential :-) And Dhoni----- He just can't come out of his set theory of playing some players - Jadeja, Ashwin, Kohli - inspite of some recent, repeated failure. It's baffling to see Ashwin being termed as replacement of Bhajji and Kumble to lead the Indian Spin attack!!! Why isn't Pragyan Ojha not there in the ODI frame? Hope India looses this ODI series to a better English Squad.......Why isn't Dhoni coming up the order, if he's in a good form? Is he sacred that batting failure will raise serious question on his place in the team??????

mukesh_LOVE.cricket
on January 11, 2013, 15:49 GMT

The pitch was a joke , really , absolutely nothing in it for the bowlers , thanks for an incredibly boring match ! , but yes good job done by England

on January 11, 2013, 15:48 GMT

ready to loose another series in India.

jmcilhinney
on January 11, 2013, 15:48 GMT

While the pitch and the outfield did make for a batsman's paradise, it still wasn't exactly the most impressive show with the ball from England. Cook got a little too greedy by bowling Patel again when Dhoni was ready to let loose but certainly the spinners were more effective overall than the seamers. Obviously Tredwell deserves a special mention for a worthy MoM performance that might shut a few of his critics up. Root was valuable with the ball too but that might not always be the case as he really can only be considered a part-timer. That really begs the question what to do with Briggs. Is he just in the squad to cover Tredwell, even though the spinners seem to be the most effective? The biggest issue is how much the seamers bowled on the leg side, Dernbach in particular. It was almost like he was bowling a line for a right-hander regardless. The fact that they won with room for improvement is encouraging but they won't keep winning if they don't actually improve.

on January 11, 2013, 15:47 GMT

Isn't it surprising that since Duncan Fletcher took over India had performed poorly against an ordinary English team which India managed to defeat with a white wash in their previous outing. Indian Players are not only vulnerable to good pace bowling but ordinary spin bowling by England spinners. Sometimes I just feel that the Indian team should just change the name to Dhoni's favourites Eleven. Shame on you India. Keep playing IPL and forget about the tests and one-day. It is time for DADA to take over the coaching job and show our boys the winning way again...SACK Flecther.....and get rid of player who are in the team because of their name and past achievements.

on January 11, 2013, 15:46 GMT

After all, England is not Bangladesh

DataQue
on January 11, 2013, 15:46 GMT

WELL PLAYED ENGLAND!!!! Tear them apart!!!!

Nish_US
on January 11, 2013, 15:46 GMT

@Harmony111

What solid structure are you talking about when all it could manage in the previous outings is 29/5 or 106/6?

Do you really need Gambhir, Yuvraj, Raina, Jadeja in the team?

Not one of them can play a short ball.... what the heck even a full length ball outside off...and with the next world cup in pacy bouncy seaming conditions.... does any of these has any chance?

on January 11, 2013, 15:46 GMT

Recently, when the Indian batting lineup failed, the CSK batting lineup pulled them out of the ditch. Today, the Indian batting lineup failed; the CSK line-up too failed!

on January 11, 2013, 15:46 GMT

England fully deserved to win the match. They batted really well. Specially the way Samit patel batted. he is the one who stole the win. until the 49th over India was ahead by 1 run. Samit scored 18 runs in the last over and that made the different. Other than that India was on par on score with India. Ishant's bowling was pathetic to say the least. Dhoni's made a mistake in not giving Juvi a bowl. If you analyze the match these are small things that change the result. Hope Dhoni will use his cricketing brain next time around.As a neutral I would like to say best of luck to both teams.Well done England.

Nutcutlet
on January 11, 2013, 15:45 GMT

'Maybe I shd have batted a few more overs..' MSD in post-match interview. Now, I accept that remarks are made off the cuff in such a situation, but what was he getting at? Hiking himself up the order, or that he chose to get out at that point, rather than a little later on? Slightly baffling. That apart, England did themselves proud & what was esp. pleasing was that every member of the team made his contribution. It was good to see a stalwart county pro, James Treadwell, get his just desserts. He was by far the best bowler on view on a run-glut day & in a team game, it takes a lesser star to shine brightly to make all the difference. Anyone who follows county cricket wouldn't have been surprised. There are many bread & butter cricketers like JT who are fully competent & can step up; it's just that chances to do so come along so seldom. Finally, Bresnan's catch. Anyone who's played cricket knows that it was clean, the ball under his full control. 3rd ump obviously never played cricket.

adityacric1996
on January 11, 2013, 15:43 GMT

India will look back at the last two overs which went for 38 runs. Apart from that, there was nothing much to separate between the teams. Except Kohli, all the recognised batsmen got going and looked like playing a big knock while they were in the middle. Yuvraj and Raina played gorgeous strokes, but got out at crucial junctures. Dhoni got the crowd going with 4 sixes, but hit one straight to the fielder. Indeed that was the story of the innings as most of the batsmen gifted away their wickets. For England, it was off-spinner James Tredwell who was a revelation as he brought up his best ODI figures. Dernbach was costly, but picked up the big wicket of Dhoni................... India can win next matches........ if shami ahmed and pujara play in place of dinda and kohli........... or india will go far away from wins....!!!

on January 11, 2013, 15:42 GMT

So Mr. Dhoni, can we have Pujara in place of Kohli and Shami Ahmad in place of Dinda now?

on January 11, 2013, 15:42 GMT

You know, the biggest difference between the two practice matches and today's ODI. Simple answer. The COMPOSITIN of the two teams who beat England, and got beaten by England!

vkypak
on January 11, 2013, 15:41 GMT

man of the match tredwell????? y not again dhoni.....-)....ajmal took 5 wickets, but they gave man of the match to dhoni.....wat a joke ..

samincolumbia
on January 11, 2013, 15:41 GMT

@Aziz51 - A team is regarded as favorite based on past performances against the other team. In this case, England past ODI record in India was shambolic and therefore India were favorite. Just like in a World Cup match, India start favorites since Pakistan has yet to win a single match in the history of World Cups, be it ODI or T20 with their mysters spinners and fast bowlers!!

jmcilhinney
on January 11, 2013, 15:41 GMT

@RandyOZ on (January 11 2013, 09:15 AM GMT), your posts are usually rubbish but this one makes no sense at all. Bell didn't under-perform here, the pressure wasn't off and most of the successful British Olympians were from Yorkshire, so what exactly is your point? As usual, you're pointless.

www.thefulltoss.com
on January 11, 2013, 15:41 GMT

That was a A Wheelie Great Start for Ashley Giles. England's strength is the top order. Was a bit worried about the bowling, but Tredwell is such an improved bowler. Looks a bit like the bloke nobody talks to at the back of the office, but he's got all the skills.

on January 11, 2013, 15:41 GMT

Lankans fans showing their frustration of Melbourne defeat here:)

RaviNarla
on January 11, 2013, 15:40 GMT

Jadeja is neither a good bowler nor a good batsman. That is one bad selection. Another one is Shami Ahmed. Why on earth did Dhoni select Dinda. Third one is keeping out an in form batsman like Pujara who scored well against Eng and Tons of runs in domestic. Now this is 3 losses in 4 matches in ODI's in India. If India cannot win on Placid tracks in India they cannot win anywhere else. Dhoni's wait and watch statement does not weigh in his favour. He has done amazing things for India in the past. Since the England tour last year his form as a Captain has been pathetic. He should do some things like like promoting himself to No 3 and pushing Kohli down the order until he gets his confidence back. It is easy to comment form the hindsight. But Dhoni has seen and been in situations like that. He is the better judge of himself as to how he is done as a captain after the World cup.

Deva83
on January 11, 2013, 15:40 GMT

For people whomsoever are rubbishing India for the defeat, especially the

1.Brits - Please refresh your memory, ur team has lost 13 successive matches in India. Winning one match doesn't make u a great team

2. Srilankans - U just need to zip ur mouth cos u aren't playing any better compared to us and when was the last time u won an ODI series against India, either home or away.

3. Pakistan -As ajmal mentioned in the media that it wud be difficult for India to beat Pakistan in their backyard, i agree with him since these ppl beleive in shooting and gunning down players who tour their country. A person has to be alive to play and win matches

vkypak
on January 11, 2013, 15:39 GMT

man of the match tredwell????? y not again dhoni.....-)....ajmal took 5 wickets, but they gave man of the match to dhoni.....wat a joke ..

on January 11, 2013, 15:37 GMT

Is there anyone out there who can explain to me, how Dinda is better than Shami, in any way? Whether in using his 'upper story' or in execution.

Of course, he has picked up all the packagings of being a 'good ' fast bowling cricketer. Aggressive body language. Headband. Brisk walk back to bowl the next ball. Looking around the field, and gesturing for finer movement of fielders, here and there. While batting, even taking fresh guard, when the asking rate climbs up, as if to say, "just wait and see; I am going to smash the stuffing out of the ball and break some skulls in the audience. And get the runs". The whole works! But, there is only a minor problem ... Results!

jmcilhinney
on January 11, 2013, 15:37 GMT

Impressive batting display from England. The conditions certainly favoured batting but they still made the most of them. Bell had a little luck early but looked impressive again once he settled. I'd say that the Indian batsman had significantly more luck though, with a number of miscued shots falling safely between fielders. Cook looked in control again and scores rather quickly for a plodder. KP and Morgan both did what they do and Patel's innings was excellent and was a real poke in the eye to his critics. Those runs he scored at the end proved to be crucial. Even Kieswetter managed 24 off 20, although he didn't looked completely comfortable and again played out too many dot balls.

gerrardl
on January 11, 2013, 15:36 GMT

ICC should please prevent these humiliations for 'Team India'. Allowing 2nd rate teams like India to play against top class sides like England is bad for the spirit of the entire nation.

Please can the ICC and BCCI work together to ensure that india only plays against Bang, Zim, NZ and Kenya.

Work together to end this madness. We cant have 1 billion people in the world get depressed everytime India plays.

hello :)

samincolumbia
on January 11, 2013, 15:34 GMT

Ashwin and Jadeja - Dhoni's wonder pets!

Hash_Tag
on January 11, 2013, 15:33 GMT

I am becoming fearful now. WHY WHY WHY was Pujara left out AGAIN!!!? How many beatings are we going to have to endure? It is a fixed and given that we beat England in India EVERY time. Now look at it.... At least England fans have been moderate in their victory. But we should stay positive. We know that there are plenty of others outside of the India team that could do the job better. Question is - are they going to get their chance - or are we going to have to go on getting beaten?

Musafir366
on January 11, 2013, 15:31 GMT

I think the matter that Dhoni is not declare Man Of match in first ODI should be raised in ICC court and BCCI should announce Dhoni MOM now for rest of the one days.

crickketlover
on January 11, 2013, 15:28 GMT

Why do you call it a surprising win? England won it comprehensively and the way they were playing India, they are expected to beat India. Indian cricketers are not consistent after winning the World cup - may be because Indian cricketers became cocky and lost focus and also failed to understand the concept of humility and humbleness and did not have their feet firmly grounded.

on January 11, 2013, 15:28 GMT

Dear Tredwell, I owe you an apology. I had indulged in word-plays (mostly in jest) like Tried well, Tired Well etc, when I wrongly thought that England team, unfairly dropped a younger colleague of yours like a ton of Briggs, to accommodate you in the playing XI. You proved your point. Proved the team's judgement too (I should have realised, Ashley has enough Guiles to judge spinners, being one himself). You really Trod Well, Mr Tredwell. Congratulations. You also showed us, all Indian cricket fans, that how shallow our "lead spinners" are! Hope, you woke up our cricket administrators too.

Selassie-I
on January 11, 2013, 15:27 GMT

I wonder what would have happened had Swann, Anderson and Broad been playing....

jmcilhinney
on January 11, 2013, 15:27 GMT

If England don't really trust Root to be able to keep up the pace of an ODI innings then I can't see why they selected him in the first place. I was impressed with him in the last Test match but I thought that James Taylor would have been a more logical selection to replace Bairstow in the squad. For the same reason, Buttler seems a more logical selection for the XI in this series but Root will probably retain his place as much for his bowling performance as anything. With all the seamers going for runs and the spinners keeping it fairly tight, if they're not going to play Briggs, which i think is a mistake, then they're unlikely to drop Root and loose his bowling. I thought that it would have been worth bowling KP for an over or two tonight as well, especially against the left-handers. He may have got a bit of extra bounce due to his height. Maybe one or two opposition fans will stop poking fun at Tredwell now. He doesn't look much but he keeps on perfroming.

Electric_L0ser_Wacko
on January 11, 2013, 15:26 GMT

What is gandu jadeja doing in this side? I thought we were over him after pak series.. I wonder what's it goin to take to sack him and bringing irfan back... and some one please get rid of gambhir n bring pujara.... also baffled by picking dinda over shami...what is goin on here???

The last 2 overs of the England's Innings that India bowled, bleeding 38 runs (Ishant Sharma - Over 49 cost 20 runs & Bhuvaneshwar Kumar's 50th Over that cost 18 runs), at the end cost India the match. With Indian batting, at the end of the 48th over India was 299/8, a good 12 runs ahead on RUN RATE / Over by Over comparison. Even at end of Over 49, India was 308/9, again 1 run ahead of England score at same level (307/4). This time it was again Ishant & Kumar, but BATTING. Cricket has its strange ways!

Batmanindallas
on January 11, 2013, 15:24 GMT

People flying under the radar-Ashwin-compare his performance to Tredwell and Kohli-can we drop him for Pujara?
What is the role for Jadeja-is he a spinner or a batsmen who bowls or all rounder? If he is a bowler who can bat then Ashwin needs to go with his mediocre performance. Sharma-how many more trials before we realize he does not have it in him....

tickcric
on January 11, 2013, 15:24 GMT

I thought Dhoni did not get the best out of the situation by not letting Dinda finish his full quota of overs. In his final spell Dinda was bowling good and actually changed the momentum of the England innings with two crucial wickets (KP & Morgan) without giving away too many runs (in that spell). Just then Dhoni changed him and surprisingly did not get the full 10 overs from him. On the other hand Cook persisted with Dernbach who like Dinda was hit early on but took late wickets. That worked at least today. On the whole I felt both teams played well in the batting paradise but individually English batters & bowlers where just a little bit better than their Indian counterparts. Exciting start to the series!

AHFAD
on January 11, 2013, 15:22 GMT

I thought India will chase 325 successfully. After all they are flat track bullies.
Last 2 overs bowled by India cost them the match.

Biggest surprise was Dhoni is NOT the MOM.

Behind_the_Wicket
on January 11, 2013, 15:22 GMT

Tredwell you are lucky to get the Man of the match otherwise it is fixed for Dhoni only.

jmcilhinney
on January 11, 2013, 15:21 GMT

That was an exciting game with India still in the hunt right up until pretty much the last over although England were favourites a bit before that. Not exactly the best bowling performance, with far too much bowled on the leg side, but if they can have an overall ordinary night with the ball and still win then that bodes well for if the bowlers get their act together. I'm glad that Root was able to contribute with the ball after not getting a bat. I don't really see how England can justify his selection if they don't think that he's good enough to bat in that situation. As it turned out, it was certainly the right decision to promote Samit Patel. Kieswtter's innings doesn't look to bad but he played out too many dots and England were fortunate that Patel played a gem. He's copped a lot of criticism from many and I've said that he probably doesn't warrant a place if he's not bowling but he justified his place as a batsman today.

on January 11, 2013, 15:20 GMT

beginning of another WW? (not world war, white wash) :)

bhrangi
on January 11, 2013, 15:19 GMT

Congratulations England.,, You deserve this victory. Again am seeing so many SL friends firing their comments against India., to be honest India looked like it would chase this score and you might have thought that but won't accept. @SL fans : If you are looking for competitive cricket please watch Aus vs SL team , SL giving good fight against Aus B team and Leave here.

Aziz51
on January 11, 2013, 15:19 GMT

Found the tile very biased and uncalled for .....For some reason according to the editor India after tasting humiliating defeat from ENG in the test series as well as soaring defeat from Pak was still favorite for this match ... or may be the page is also sponsored by BCCI just like most of the MoM in the last series with Pak. Its funny isn't it:-)

on January 11, 2013, 15:19 GMT

Agree with Adil Minhas, Dhoni was deprived of MOM award

Salyseth
on January 11, 2013, 15:18 GMT

FAILURE is the pillar of SUCCESS........to be continued !! ;)

on January 11, 2013, 15:17 GMT

Only when you at look at Tredwell's performance, it hits you on the face, how average our Indian spinners are! Bedi, Prasanna, Kumble...et al... where are you? Can't you guys guide a bunch of handpicked spinners to represent our (and your) beloved country's team. I remember, a few years ago, Bedi offered his services. A little later Prasanna also offered. Kumble himself was in charge of the NCA at B'lore.

Some one was planning to start something on the lines of the MRF Academy,but exclusively for spinners! What happened to all those offers, resources, plans? Do BCCI need a private foundation like MRF to run it? Don't they have enough resources (money and manpower), to conceive , develop and run such an institutional effort?

on January 11, 2013, 15:16 GMT

Well I'm rather surprised, really didn't think 325 was enough on that wicket, thought we were at least 25 runs light. Glad to see I was wrong, England bowled well in unhelpful conditions. Obviously Tredwell did a great job, but think Root deserves a good deal of praise, not bad for a "part time" bowler! As for the Indian fans who were predicting a 5-0 "white wash", sorry I misunderstood, I thought you ment TO India!

CrICkeeet
on January 11, 2013, 15:16 GMT

INDIA lost another match, bt i dont undrstnd why ppl gettng ANGRY on IND PLAYERS
THIS RESULT IS VERY EXPECTED :d :d, WE ALL KNOW THAT ENG will win d series! plz keep playing SUPERB IPL

jmcilhinney
on January 11, 2013, 15:16 GMT

@RandyOZ on (January 11 2013, 13:27 PM GMT), right on the money again I see. Top scorers: Bell, Cook and Patel, all imported from... England.

CricketingStargazer
on January 11, 2013, 15:15 GMT

@Kavindeven Could it be that Dhoni's innings was not match-winning? Maybe the MoM should have gone to Samit Patel who scored more runs at a much higher strike rate? In the end though, not too many people can complain about the award going to James Tredwell, whose bowling really was the difference between the sides. I guess that the sceptics among us who said (slightly tongue-in-cheek) that India A and Delhi would be stronger opposition than India have been vindicated! Good win for England who kept their nerve when it would have been easy to flap and give it away when India had wickets in hand and only 50-odd to chase. Seeing that the spinners were by far the most effective and economical bowlers today may just see the end of the Jade Dernbach experiment: his history of struggling on the sub-continent is getting too long to ignore.

on January 11, 2013, 15:15 GMT

So Gambhir made a fifty on flat track and is now set for another 100 ODI? I feel bad for Unmukt Chand and Shikhar Dhwawan.
Same is true for Pujara. I dont know what he has to do to get in. I suggest drop Gavaskar's Mr. Tiger Pataudi of 2012 (kohli, in case you missed it) and bring in Pujara. Chand/dhawan and Rahane should open with Dhoni number 3 and Pujara at number 4 should be enough in most matches. If needed Yuvraj and Raina can pitch in to win the match. Amen.

Harmony111
on January 11, 2013, 15:14 GMT

Some Ind fans are weird too. God bless them.

1. Jadeja's got 3 Triple Tons in FC, bowled 10-19-1 last time but they don't want him in team.

2. Pujara got a Triple Ton recently (may be more) so they want him in the ODI team even if he does no fit in as of now.

Do they apply any mind before making such suggestions? Where will Pujara play?
Kohli/Yuvi/Raina/Dhoni all deserve their places. Rahane should be given ample time. Then who? Should Gambhir be dropped? But can Pujara open in that case? Should we drop Sir Jadeja? Can Pujara bowl and field like him? Should be drop a bowler to play Pujara? But our bowling is already too weak.

Just because we have a talented batsman doesn't mean we have to play him at any cost even if it disturbs the whole structure.

hey..actually india lost when they didnt choose shami..dinda is a useless bowler for international cricket...last match india won because shami and bhauvaneshwar created pressure from both the ends...shami restrcited runs..and bhuvaneshwar took wickets..why would anyone hit bhuvaneswar if he is getting run from other end?? next thing is why 3 pacers??...u cant fool england on the dint of them bcoz they are used to pacers..play misra or bring back ojha.....play pujara instead of kohli for two matches..let kohli do some rest...once he return to his original form ,eveyone is well aware what he can do...he is suffering from overdose of cricket...

Aziz51
on January 11, 2013, 15:11 GMT

Found the title so biased and uncalled for ..India even after tasting humiliating defeat from ENG in the test series as well as soaring defeat from Pak still was favorite for this game .... its funny isn't it :-)

dabhand
on January 11, 2013, 15:11 GMT

So there goes another predicted whitewash and kinda makes a mockery of some of the inane comments regarding the quality of the players on both sides.

Rather than MSD or anyone else being sacked perhaps those who consistently get their predictions wrong could sack themselves and not keep posting their idiotic claims.

It was a close run thing and that bodes well for the remaining matches, they should at least be interesting - whichever side comes out on top.

on January 11, 2013, 15:10 GMT

ghambir, raina, yuvraj ,dhoni and ashwin thats it , change all the other players from the team.

on January 11, 2013, 15:09 GMT

@Robertson Massey
Pakistan is a far better team then England and all other guys comparing Pakistan here, they can whitewash Australia who is the weaken now by loosing some players yet they are the world's best side and Pakistan are on 3rd position in my list after RSA.
So England and India could be 4th and 5th respectively. So no Pakistan is England.

Jay.Raj
on January 11, 2013, 15:08 GMT

I thought Dinda was bowling pretty well in the latter overs to pieterson and Morgan.
He picked up their wickets and he had the momentum going on his way and maybe Dhoni could have given him some more overs rather than choosing Ishanth Sharma.

on January 11, 2013, 15:08 GMT

Drop Virat Kohili and get in Pojara for next match. It would do good for Kohli and Team India

on January 11, 2013, 15:07 GMT

On this page i see two types of people, one of them is the fans who are celebrating this win, the other type is those who keep on coming up with their own "my indian XI" at the end of every match :)

Selassie-I
on January 11, 2013, 15:07 GMT

Well played by England. For me they played well rather than India playing badly, India were in it the whole time, good match, let's have more of these this series.

I don't really think India need to change their team, all the quicks on both sides were expensive, with the quick outfield a fast bowler is going to go for runs on a good batting pitch like this.

on January 11, 2013, 15:06 GMT

India will look back at the last two overs which went for 38 runs. Apart from that, there was nothing much to separate between the teams. Except Kohli, all the recognised batsmen got going and looked like playing a big knock while they were in the middle. Yuvraj and Raina played gorgeous strokes, but got out at crucial junctures. Dhoni got the crowd going with 4 sixes, but hit one straight to the fielder. Indeed that was the story of the innings as most of the batsmen gifted away their wickets. For England, it was off-spinner James Tredwell who was a revelation as he brought up his best ODI figures. Dernbach was costly, but picked up the big wicket of Dhoni................. INDIA CAN WIN THE NEXT MATCHES EASILY......!!!!!
GO INDIA GO...

bubii
on January 11, 2013, 15:05 GMT

England win is not surprising it was expected. Surprising element is India made 300 runs lol!

mazii
on January 11, 2013, 15:04 GMT

again India lost the match in the last five overs. Samit patel's inning proved to be match winning inning for England. Indian depth bowling has been ac concerned factor and the bowlers again failed to justify that they are good enough bowler to contain of the likes of Patel and others. B. kumar's last over went for many runs that proved costly for India. But good decent performance from Indian front line batsmen.

Professor.Biscuit.Khan
on January 11, 2013, 15:04 GMT

Goodness me !

Even on bating paradise, Ind lost the match. It clearly suggests what bad form Ind batsmen have been in. And with all new-inexperienced bowling attack, I would say it is a great opportunity for teams to beat India in India and improve their record / increase tally of wins. This is exactly what Pakistan team did.

And a big LOL @ the heading of the report. Man, there's nothing "surprising" in it. The kind of horrible form Ind team is in, even Zim would be a strong contender to challenge Dhoni's men.

Looking for the next match. Wouldn't be surprised if Team Ind lose.

ashes61
on January 11, 2013, 15:04 GMT

Can't see why this is described as a surprise win for ENG, nor why IND should have been considered favourites beforehand. Regardless of previous series results, I'd have said roughly "even-stevens" because of ENG's 2nd string bowling attack for this series, & still would. ENG would be firm favourites if playing their full-strength ODI side. Not really for me to comment on IND's selection (there are thousands here since 2011 who've done that!) but the delay in picking Pujara baffles me. He IS good enough & WILL score quickly enough. Who to drop? No idea - doesn't matter - he would improve the side whoever was dropped. Last week I said I'd be very surprised if Tredwell wasn't ENG's most successful bowler this series & also the best spinner from both sides, all done with an economical analysis. So far so good. I believe he's the best bowler from both squads, even though comparing seamers with spinners isn't easy. Finn & Dernbach v. poor today - just when is Dernbach going to calm down?

balajeev
on January 11, 2013, 15:04 GMT

An end of the game press conference without the use of the word "execute". I am glad.

on January 11, 2013, 15:03 GMT

England won this match and India lost. Lets join the chorus. Drop Dhoni, sack him as a captain, He is the root cause of India's problem. Lets make Virat kohli a new captain. lol..... Lets do it one more time. Nampally and Nyc-Missile, where are you?

Harmony111
on January 11, 2013, 15:02 GMT

Someone tell me how is this an "ALL ROUND" performance by Eng to win this match? They won it yes but Ind too scored 300+ runs in the chase. Had Eng restricted Ind or bowled India out for 240-250 then it would have been an all round performance from Eng.

When I juxtapose this with the way the author used the word "shameless" for Gautam Gambhir in this article it really makes me feel the author has lost some of his sense of balance.

on January 11, 2013, 15:01 GMT

The biggest question is what about Pujara ? Everybody is asking about Pujaras inclusion in playing 11 but nobody is answering who is to be replaced ? According to me if Pujara is included in playing 11 he should be play at 1,2 or3 position. No any other position is perfect for the batsman of Pujaras callibure. So who will make way for Pujara ? Gambhir ? Rahane ? Or Kohli ? From todays match I dont think Gambhir or Rahane will be making way for Pujara for atleast in second ODI. And about Kohli, well he has enough credit still on his name. So I dont think even in second ODI Pujara will be included. Only change we may see that inclusion of Rohit Sharma in place of one bowler. Dhoni can go with 4 specialsed bowlers as from Raina, Kohli, Yuvi and evn Rohit can feel 5 th bowlers spot. And offcource it will be lifetime last chance for Rohit Sharma. Agreed he is tallented. But if tallent is not producing performance on ground its no use. So all the best for team India and most important Rohit.

on January 11, 2013, 15:01 GMT

Oh biggest upset: Dhoni could not get man of the match award. That's not fair. India win or lose, dont worry about it. Dhoni should be man of the match.

Romenevans
on January 11, 2013, 15:01 GMT

Ishant Sharma! LOL! What Shami did wrong? bowled 4-5 maidens in his debut match and bowling the crucial overs so well against pak...that was his fault? Dhoni! Wow you're amazing. Keep destroying indian cricket and make it 2nd hockey.

lukecannon
on January 11, 2013, 14:59 GMT

@gsingh7- LOL are you completely sure about England getting whitewashed mate? Your team is over-hyped and can't win a game on home soil. lol

lukecannon
on January 11, 2013, 14:58 GMT

@Harmony111- I think the author finds it amusing as much as we do.. Dhoni bats like he's shoveling. No technique at all. Just swinging like mad. IPL's doing entirely. Test cricket is where cricketers start and build up a strong technique. When you lose to them in Test matches (at home) then it's no real wonder what it is gonna be like in the shorter format. The only success Dhoni and his men had recently is their good tour in Sri Lanka which i have to say is a fluke. SL lost Kulasekara and Sangakkara at the start of the series and Kohli was in superb form.. Besides that this Indian team hasn't achieved anything. Couldn't beat this average English side on your own home soil. Kudos to India for making a game out of it though. Well played England. We salute you captain Cook.. That's how you should do it..make runs and lead from the front..

Romenevans
on January 11, 2013, 14:58 GMT

The biggest shocker is that Dhoni didn't get the man of the match. What was the jury thinking? LOL!

cricketkhan
on January 11, 2013, 14:56 GMT

poor indians!!!!!!! they dont have any respite

R_U_4_REAL_NICK
on January 11, 2013, 14:54 GMT

Tredwell = English; Cook = English; Bell = English; Patel = English. These 4 guys won it for England today, and hallelujah - a bowler (Tredwell) even got Man of the Match! What are the excuses going to be now I wonder?

Briggs for Dernbach or Bresnan next game please England selectors - look at the bowling stats for a change and stop picking players on promise alone.

sahbas_s
on January 11, 2013, 14:54 GMT

as long as india doesn't get rid of avg players like jadeja,raina,ashwin,dinda there is no hope for indian cricket..really sad to see india losing almost all the games

Captainman
on January 11, 2013, 14:53 GMT

England played really well and as a collective unit which got them the deserving win. India should be stripped of their full status and be given to a deserving team like Ireland for the way they have been playing since that world cup win :D

on January 11, 2013, 14:52 GMT

I thought Dhoni would get the man of the match to boost his morale

Captainman
on January 11, 2013, 14:51 GMT

Instead of ordinary India wasting teams like Pakistan and England's time, please play teams like West Indies, Zimbabwe, Ireland etc teams of your level. Your team is in a transition with retirements :D

Nish_US
on January 11, 2013, 14:51 GMT

The only reason it was a close encounter is because... all the top and middle order had the knife hanging on their neck... with Pujara waiting for this chance in ODI.. and they all know once he gets in.. there is no way to push him out....

not in the current form he is in.....

Otherwise they do not really care...

gbqdgj
on January 11, 2013, 14:50 GMT

@gsingh7...My goodness, look how theEnglish team have been thrashed to all parts...the start of a 5 - 0 whitewash...oh, wait..,.hang on, weren't you one of the Indian fans on here predicting a whitewash for India in the tests too...oh wait again...England win the first ODI...(I must admit I thought that 325 would be chased by India to be fair), but please gsingh7, just try and show a little bit of respect for other cricketing nations and stop making wild predictions as I'm afraid as all to often happens such predictions end up making you look stupid. With all that said I still think India will win the series but I think it may well be quite close.

lukecannon
on January 11, 2013, 14:50 GMT

This average , over-hyped Indian team shouldn't play international series and save us the trouble. Couldn't have done it better Captain Cook. The closer they get to the target in defeat the more it hurts. India pummeled in home conditions. lol

Nish_US
on January 11, 2013, 14:48 GMT

All those (if any) watching me desperately crying for Pujara may think........

Not really a huge fan of Pujara (still has a long way to go to fill in dravid's shoes.. his approach looks still a little tentative to me..not completly solid.. not yet)

But good performances, form, and confidence should be given priority over..... poking, prodding, scratchy 50s..

If Pujara (or Tiwary for that matter) does not perform to the occassion, I will be the first one going after him (minimum two home and two away series before you can judge him.. okay may be 10% of the chances that Rohit, Jadeja, Raina were given....

The_bowlers_Holding
on January 11, 2013, 14:45 GMT

Started watching the game at the halfway stage of the Indian innings (in USA) and it was touch and go swinging both ways. As I predicted (tongue in cheek slightly) Treadwell made the telling contribution, Root looked good which is a massive bonus for a top end batsman and Samit came good. I guess no MOM for Dhonni will not please everyone but hey you can't win (be given them all), as usual no credit given to winning team. No whitewash then, I anticipate a load of stats being churned out now to prove England are naff and India god like.

mikkkk
on January 11, 2013, 14:42 GMT

"All-round England grab surprise win"? What was surprising about it? Haven't you been watching the way India have been playing for the last few years

on January 11, 2013, 14:42 GMT

Once again the sub par Indian bowling allows for the opposition to accumulate a large number of runs. India's batting was very good, from the top order down however, once again the bowling proved to be abysmal.

India desperately need Umesh Yadav and Varon Aaron to spearhead their bowling attack, as the other bowlers are NOT attackers of the wicket.

Nish_US
on January 11, 2013, 14:42 GMT

Pujara helps the team, even when not in the playing 11....
by scarning the top order enough... to bow out respectably, if not win.

Otherwise it could have been a 185 all out with a scrathy 50 from Dhoni.. with a couple of sixes towards the end.

FRRR
on January 11, 2013, 14:42 GMT

Dhoni should be the man of the match .....

on January 11, 2013, 14:41 GMT

and the Jury's decision for Man Of the Match is M S Dhoni !!!!!!

Nish_US
on January 11, 2013, 14:40 GMT

India lose again.... but who cares.....
every one in the top order scores just enough to hold on to their spots...
Dhoni's ploy of bowling raina worked and he scrored a 50 too...
Alls well I guess --- atleast Dhoni, Srinivasan and company will be happy...

RednWhiteArmy
on January 11, 2013, 14:40 GMT

How'd ya like that randyloss? btw isnt australia's team basically english anyway if you go back far enough?

JChandi
on January 11, 2013, 14:40 GMT

World Champs!?#.. pretty avevrage...LOL!

on January 11, 2013, 14:38 GMT

lol i dont find anything "surprise" about England's victory. Or perhaps i did not get the sarcasm in the headline.

dilscoop_uk
on January 11, 2013, 14:38 GMT

Misery continues for INDIA !!!
On a known flat batting track against an average England bowling (without Swan and Broad) India should've chased down this target with a couple of overs to spare. But they failed again!

A_Vacant_Slip
on January 11, 2013, 14:37 GMT

Superb from England. Good win. But well played India to make a game of it.

abhiyog
on January 11, 2013, 14:37 GMT

Pak won a series without playing a warm up match......Eng played 3 for tests and 2 now...more weightage should be given to away wins without warm up matches.....anyways India deserved to win today..........

on January 11, 2013, 14:37 GMT

Today only luck made England winners, otherwise India was no short of class cricket on a flat pitch!

Harmony111
on January 11, 2013, 14:37 GMT

I find it very objectionable that the author of this article David Hopps has chosen language that deliberately makes fun of some of the shots played by Gautam Gambhir. Is the author promising that if any Eng batsman scores runs due to deflections and edges he will use a similar language to describe them too?

I really sometimes wonder that while cricinfo have a rather paranoid team of Mods for the comment section they allow such articles to get published with little or no editorial control over the language used.

I would like the author to use similar language for Dernbach who was very poor in his bowling though he picked up some wickets. Let's see if Mr. Hopps does so or not.

BuntyBudek
on January 11, 2013, 14:36 GMT

Give the moral boosting award (man of the match) to Dhoni !!!

on January 11, 2013, 14:35 GMT

I really don't care don't care the result but they way ind was closed to game , that call a team effort , I was wondering something fishy between ind vs pak series..ind outplayed..every department.. ?????

brusselslion
on January 11, 2013, 14:35 GMT

@gsingh7 on January 11 2013, 09:58

"..india wud thrash english bowlers to all parts of gujarat to win big here , 5-0 whitewash awaits for english side and fans." In hindsight, anything you would like to amend here?

Actually, I guess that you must be an England fan masquerading as an Indian poster. Surely, no rational Indian supporter would be writing such nonsense after the results of the last couple of months, would they?

on January 11, 2013, 14:31 GMT

HAHAHAHA yet another prove that indian batting is not as good as they think the so called HOME LIONS are becoming HOME sheeps.......... sorry but they have to think about a changeover to there team only advertisements cant produce good results on ground show some character and play like they describe in television adds

ThemanID
on January 11, 2013, 14:28 GMT

Sad to see Indian cricket at this stage. Future doesn't look much threatening to opponents and now unable to win ODIs at home, batting paradise surfaces

gm47
on January 11, 2013, 14:25 GMT

@Nirmal Shah
indian will win this match.

er..hem...... are you sure :) :) :)

what excuses will we read this time. Can't beat England in test matches,T20 and now ODI's.... shall we try chess, draughts or something less taxing gentlemen :)

EnglishCricket
on January 11, 2013, 14:25 GMT

India can't even win on their grounds billion people and love Cricket but still lose. Our England team is too strong :D

EnglishCricket
on January 11, 2013, 14:24 GMT

lool!! India lost again average team :D

on January 11, 2013, 14:23 GMT

And the Man of the Match is Dhoni for his amazing 36. =))

Nish_US
on January 11, 2013, 14:12 GMT

So all those that needed to be dropped to give Pujara a chance...

score just past 50 on the flattest wicket.. which will extend stay for the next zillion series to come...

R_U_4_REAL_NICK
on January 11, 2013, 14:06 GMT

@Soora Puli (post on January 11 2013, 13:39 PM GMT): Aakash Chopra tweeted the following: "Indian bowlers conceded 130 runs in last 12 overs...let's see if English bowlers can return the favor. Looks very likely :)"...
Now does that not sound rather degrading to English? Anyway, it's 279/7 as I type, so we'll see who's left red-faced.

VinodGupte
on January 11, 2013, 14:05 GMT

That's Jadeja for you. 7-off-9-once-in-19-matches kind of a batsman. you gotta miss SRT for so long as ODI cricket is alive.

FRRR
on January 11, 2013, 13:57 GMT

india gonna lose soon. England is playing really well.

R_U_4_REAL_NICK
on January 11, 2013, 13:40 GMT

Dernbach's career economy rate has now gone over 6 per over... If England lose from here SURELY changes will be made for the next game?

Look how wonderfully Tredwell has bowled, and yet: 1. Patel has not been thrown the ball; 2. Briggs has not even been considered; 3. The Man-of-the-Match award will probably go to a batsman like Bell if England cling on here; Raina and Dhoni are batting as I type this, so they might finish things off for India...

on January 11, 2013, 13:39 GMT

Deflwctions are also cricket shots and Mr. Hopps does not do himself any favour by describing them shameless. A reporter must be unbiased. He has a history of praising English batsmen and degrading, albeit subtly, Indians. Desist, Mr. Hopps.

RandyOZ
on January 11, 2013, 13:27 GMT

Once again England's imports doing the bulk of the work. Dernbach is also heading towards a wicketless 50....with the ball!

Al_Bundy1
on January 11, 2013, 13:15 GMT

It's time to "rest" Kohli and let Pujara play at #3. Kohli has been woefully out of form for a long time now. Maybe a stint at domestic cricket will help him recover his form. This is where Dhoni can be real stubborn. Why rest a batsman like Pujara who is in the form of his life.

Al_Bundy1
on January 11, 2013, 13:00 GMT

What no Shami Ahmed?? What's wrong with Dhoni and Fletcher?? It was tight bowling by Shami Ahmed in last ODI that won the match for India. It's time to get rid of Ishant Sharma. He has been bowling for India for almost 6 years and still hasn't learned the basics. This proves that just bowling at 140+ kph is not enough - you need to use your brains to outfox the batsmen.

khurdum
on January 11, 2013, 12:57 GMT

India may win this game if Yuvi can continue for long time- at least covering balls wasted by Virat Kohli who failed meet demand of the day. He scored 15 out of 22 balls. Possibly, he forgot the chasing figure and RR which was more than 7 while he joins the fight with his bat. His SR is only 68. A pathetic scene indeed. He is just playing Like Ashraful of Bangladesh. To day, if India Lost, then it will be for kohli only.
Drop him from this series. Otherwise, you r going to loose the series like u did with pakistan.

on January 11, 2013, 12:52 GMT

indian will win this match.

Natraja
on January 11, 2013, 12:45 GMT

Can some one please tell Gavaskar that he should not spoil careers of promising batsmen by calling them captain material. See what he has done to Kohli. The guy cant score. He averaged 4 runs agin Pakistan series and now scored 15 today.

JG2704
on January 11, 2013, 12:43 GMT

@Whatsgoinoffoutthere on ( 09:51 AM GMT) To be fair Craig did OK and Patel was the reason we got a competitive score with his burst at the end. I still don't like the balance of the bowling attack but I'm not sure we have the depth to cover guys like Swann and Jimmy

@gsingh7 on ( 09:58 AM GMT) Pretty desperate stuff trying to claim Patel all of a sudden after 1 decent performance after several duff games. As for the cheerleader comment - I presume you have a particularly good sense of humour

@gbqdgj on ( 10:14 AM GMT) agreed re Pujara,Swann,Jimmy - not so sure re Trott. I think he's regressed a bit in this format this year and I'd have Wright and Buttler ahead of him this year

As I type Mr Undependable has just relieved some of the pressure that Mr Root and Mr Tredwell created. I'm surprised that with the (so far) success of Root and Tredwell and with the day he had with the bat why they have not bowled Patel so far. Dhoni's bowling selection however

Harmony111
on January 11, 2013, 12:40 GMT

Just saw a fab comment made by one Sriram in the cricinfo commentary for this match. Here ...

"Any decent batsmen can score 40 odd at run a ball in the first 10 overs. What Sachin was good at was converting them into big match winning scores! Now that we have forced him into retirement can our gen next step up consistently?"

This comment is so good it should be kept for posterity. Sachin can you come back pls? You can blame that retirement chit on your nephew :-p. Or you could say it was a bad idea planted into your head by someone who hated you ala Inception.

Sachin we are missing you a lot dear. We need your stability. You gave us that sense of protection. It was like lion pups taking a stroll in a fierce jungle cos they knew their daddy ruled it. Sachin we want to see your son Arjun debuting and you giving him his debut cap. Sachin we want to see Tendulkar at the striker end as well as the non striker end.

For a change, y doesnt MSD try pacing the team with bowlers and see for once if playing 5 regular bowlers is of any help. Packing the team with batters isnt helping obviously. Its just a one game gamble, pick Shami, Dinda, Ishant, Kumar and ashwin and see if that changes any fortunes.

Natraja
on January 11, 2013, 12:34 GMT

@Nani,
Jadeja was top bowler in Delhi ODI with his excellent 10-19/1. Today Jadeja bowled his 10 overs for only 46 runs, A clear 40 runs less than your Ishant Sharma who is suppose to be the main bowler and wicket taker. And Jadeja will score Runs more than Ishant. Jadeja's fielding is always top class saving 15-20 runs in the field. So who in right mind will not include jadeja?

You should ask question why Ishant Sharma and Rohit sharma always get picked up in the team.

Natraja
on January 11, 2013, 12:25 GMT

Some time it seems Ishant Sharma has brain freeze. This guy bowls without any thought or planning. He keeps bowling length ball and keeps getting hit by batsmen.
BTW Jadeja has bowled very well in this match too. This two in two for Jadeja. He has bowled very well in Delhi too. there he was 10-19-1/ Keep it up Jadeja you can be India's permanent number 7.

Harinasi
on January 11, 2013, 12:19 GMT

What happened to Raina not bowling his next overs ! ! !

Harmony111
on January 11, 2013, 11:58 GMT

@gm47: Well if we go even further back in time then there was no England then. That tiny island was ruled by the Germanic Tribes once upon a time and by the Romans. So what was your point again? You surely looked funny talking about history for no reason on a cricket page....try to show more contextual awareness next time you comment.

R_U_4_REAL_NICK
on January 11, 2013, 11:51 GMT

Well what a surprise... spinners once again dominating the bowling, and England still go in with Bresnan. I see Root is turning his arm over to reasonable effect, but when are England selectors gonna wake up and smell the coffee?

Harmony111
on January 11, 2013, 11:43 GMT

Am I the only one who tears his hair up when Ishant Sharma keeps bowling length outside off and gets hit for 4s and 6s? Hafeez played a similar shot for 6 vs Ishant in the last T20 too. It seems during final overs Ishant has this habit of bowling either length outside the off or short at the body. Both are easy to get away and in fact easy to play big shots against.

Ishant Sharma has been playing for 5 years now on-off. When will he lean to bowl? He sometimes lack even the most basic of control. I really envy other nations who have the likes of Cummins and Starc and Finn. They come in and pick up the baton like they were already running in full steam. Talented Ind bowlers like Sreesanth and Ishant plateau after promising a lot. Others like Dinda bowl as if they got skulls but no brains.

AvidCricFan
on January 11, 2013, 11:42 GMT

Even though India has started well, it is still gong to be difficult to win. I don't think the team selection is right. Yuvi's role in the team is questionable. Purely on batting, Pujara is way ahead of Yuvi. Yuvi's role as a bowler is questionable. He isn't used as an all rounder.

gm47
on January 11, 2013, 11:36 GMT

@gsingh7 if you want to go back in history then England used to rule india but we are talking about cricket today not yesteryear :)

Akshita29
on January 11, 2013, 11:32 GMT

This is batting paradise . Hope Indian batters could find some form and take advantage of such good conditions.

Akshita29
on January 11, 2013, 11:12 GMT

England should have looked to take more advantage in the 1st power play overs. This is the best batting pitch that India could offer .

on January 11, 2013, 10:50 GMT

First Question Why Pujara is not in the Team ? I think he has the ability to fit int he shoes of the Great Sachin

ir_prathik
on January 11, 2013, 10:50 GMT

India will win the day we get rid of ishant sharma , Dinda ,ashwin & Gambhir. They should be replaced by Pujara (batsmen) , Shami Ahmed (strike bowler), Sandeep Sharma (strike bowler), Harmeet Singh (strike bowler) & Amit Mishra (strike bowler). Kedar jadhav (Batsmen) Avgs 54 in Odis which is higher than even Dhoni & has a Strike rate of 108 these are magnificent stats & hence he deserves a place too. Lets hope someone is listening.

Sachin____Tendulkar
on January 11, 2013, 10:49 GMT

India's refusal to accept DRS system is costing it dearly. Ian Bell was out when the England score was around 40. BCCI decided to be above the rest of the world and thought they can alter the rules of cricket for themselves. Sorry BCCI, you are the ones who lose and so do billion Indian cricket fans.

madhu-82
on January 11, 2013, 10:39 GMT

Mr. cool captain has left inform pujara out of playing 11 and didnot eyen his best bowler of T 20 series yuvaraj when his trusted bowlers were clobberd for plenty. now its upto his trusted batsmen to deliver rather than giving silly excuses ar delhi batsmen has already shown how to do it. Else drnp the non performing players for talent warming benches. if dhoni is not obliged to do lets the process begin with him or lets rename team india as chennai super kings so that indian fans can be light hearted at another( series ) defeat.

electric_loco_WAP4
on January 11, 2013, 10:39 GMT

Well..... Indian bowlers..... now have been taken apart by of all people..the English batsmen... say a lot really . Poor Ishant Sharma is the 'spearhead' of this Ind bowl and that says the state of the team really . Can't wait for when Aus tour Ind in the tests and seeing young Aus batsmen like P Hughes and Warner feast on their boling
and really take off in their budding test careers.... as Ind is well known for giving a
real fillip to the careers of many young/struggling batsmen... The series couldn't have come at a better time for the rebuilding Aus side.

Ashtalk
on January 11, 2013, 10:30 GMT

Can anyone justify omission of Shami and Pujara ??????
Dhoni, time to move........

Sir.Ivor
on January 11, 2013, 10:28 GMT

I find it difficult to even write about Dhoni and his arrogance anymore. If the Srinivasan led Selectors camnnot drop Dhoni from captaincy for whatever reason, the team should no longer play as the Indian team. It could play as the BCCI XI. Dhoni's arrogance can be seen in these facts. He ensured that the team remained unchanged as if in defiance,after the Mumbai Test defeat,appeared for the meeting of the selectors for selecting the team for the 3rd and 4th Tests against England in Army fatigue overalls and said there will be no change to the media as if cocking a snook at all of them. It is really disgusting that no power seems to matter for Dhoni. Today it shocked me that Raina who was bowling really well and much better than Ashwin actually, was not used for 10 overs. Pujara was ruled out even yesterday on a ground where he learnt his cricket and has scored in thousands. This is perversion at its best on the part of BCCI and its captain.

HawksEyeFocused
on January 11, 2013, 10:28 GMT

England will win the match as well as the series easily and with a leading margin most probably with 4-1 or even 5-0. Best of luck to team England!!!

Pettel
on January 11, 2013, 10:22 GMT

Englands top 3 batted long enough without scoring at a run a ball, will that cost England ?

on January 11, 2013, 10:22 GMT

india had never chased 300+ without sachin or sehwag.
cheteswar pujara should have included as he is the inform batsman.
gautam and yuvi should come to form.

gsingh7
on January 11, 2013, 10:18 GMT

@gm-- england A team got whitewashed in india , twice

gbqdgj
on January 11, 2013, 10:18 GMT

Aaah RandyOz....only trolls when Australia are actually winning!!

Pettel
on January 11, 2013, 10:16 GMT

Whatsgoinoffoutthere. One innings from Root on the flattest Test wicket ever and he's a world beater. Have a look at his record last year in CC Div. 2 (do they still bowl underarm in that?) hardly brilliant. This is a ODI on the Sub Continent, step forward Samit Patel, sit, watch and learn young Yorkshire pudding.

gbqdgj
on January 11, 2013, 10:14 GMT

As a true Englishman I'm rather pleased that Pujara is not in the team but if I was an Indian I'd be rather pleased neither Trott nor Anderson nor Swann are in the England team. Got to say though at the half way stage I don't think 325 is nearly enough wih the English bowling attack on this wicket. Rather fancy India to get these with a couple of overs (at least) to spare.

tusharkardile
on January 11, 2013, 10:14 GMT

@ Yadsharma - its easy, he didn't want to damage Raina's figures... Sharma was a very good candidate to be a scapegoat at the post match interview. Do I already hear "The last two overs were the difference. We probably gave away 30 extra runs, Kumar is still learning to bpwl at death, etc, etc"?

Biswajitbangalore
on January 11, 2013, 10:12 GMT

why everybody blaming dinda. what this Ishant sharma is doing in the team. he has gone for 86. Dhoni is always beliving himself. sharma gone for 86!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. instead of sharma could have played sami. its all politics is happning in the team. losing hope on Indian cricket

gm47
on January 11, 2013, 10:03 GMT

If India can't beat an England B team where do they go from here ? Pressure is on to get 326. Anything less is total failure.

NP_NY
on January 11, 2013, 10:02 GMT

Just why in the world would Dhoni throw the ball to the most expensive bowler (Ishant) to bowl the 49th over? Doesn't make any sense with Dinda (supposedly the most effective death bowler India has) still having one over left at the end!

wakaPAK
on January 11, 2013, 10:01 GMT

India will chase this down... easily.. who wanna bet?

Yadsharma
on January 11, 2013, 9:59 GMT

What a wonderful smart captain India Has. Ishant leaked runs but was still able to complete his quota of 10 overs, while Raina bowled fantastically... was stopped at 5 overs. way to go. Good thinking captain.

gsingh7
on January 11, 2013, 9:58 GMT

people slacking patel should give a rest , this indian origin lad is better player than most in indian conditions, also gavaskar cheerleading for dinda was funny and depressing at same time, india wud thrash english bowlers to all parts of gujarat to win big here , 5-0 whitewash awaits for english side and fans

Whatsgoinoffoutthere
on January 11, 2013, 9:51 GMT

Dernbach, Bresnan and ten overs to find from Root and Patel? England will need a good total here, for no other reason that their attack really isn't very good.

Even if England win, I'll still stand by the comment on their choice of bowlers. Day in day out, this attack will get found out.

Joe Root is a quality batsman and for him to come in below Kieswetter and Patel is a bit of an insult.

anujlucknow
on January 11, 2013, 9:48 GMT

I feel Shami should have been included for sure. You cant let a player play 1 match and then ask him to sit for no reason. I dont think Jadeja has done any wonders off late so why not let a young player play a match in continuation to boost up his morale.

on January 11, 2013, 9:26 GMT

I cant believe Cheteshwar Pujara is not on the playing Squad , he scored triple century and this is his home ground, it is completely illogical not to have him in playing squad, it would have been best for him to have debut on his home ground, again same dirty politics, shame on you selectors

RandyOZ
on January 11, 2013, 9:15 GMT

Ahh Bell, the inherent under-performer. only performs when the pressure is off. Good to see the internationals in the United XI performing, much like thee Olympic team.

Des_65
on January 11, 2013, 8:58 GMT

What is the point of selecting in-form Pujara and keeping him out of the playing 11? Waiting till he is out of form? Indian think tank is out of their minds. Ridiculous!

Harmony111
on January 11, 2013, 8:55 GMT

@cric_mojo: Whereever you come from it looks to me you've never heard Mark Taylor's commentary when Aus plays. When he is on mic, anything good that happens is due to brilliant captaincy by Ponting and now Clarke and every ball that the batsman leaves is a brilliant ball that beat him and every stop by the fielder is a brilliant save and every catch is a brilliant catch and just about everything the Aussies do is BRILLIANT BRILLIANT BRILLIANT ad infinitum...

Laxman Siva may or may not be a good commentator but biased? Well, there aren't any real unbiased neutral commentators there in the world. Everyone deep down roots for his native land. Do you remember the sudden surge in Ian Bishop's voice (who otherwise is a very relaxed and easy paced talker) when Badree took a catch in deep of a SL player in WT20 Finals? That was his blood talking and no issues there. Most are like that. Some like Greig r born in SA, play 4 Eng, live in Aus, promote SL and ALWAYS down Ind - that's no bias?

ir_prathik
on January 11, 2013, 8:46 GMT

Shami dropped , Pujara not selected after 350 on same ground yesterday after repeated failures by gambhir & dandas mystery selection for the first game has disgusted me & ruined my faith in MS Dhoni as a good captain. These are not mistakes these are blunders. Where is Sandeep Sharma & Harmeet Singh two worldclass excellent bowlers. Our selection policy needs a review..Bowlers with lowest avgs per wicket in first class should be given a chance over those with much higher avgs. Our bowling is looking better with the 5 bowler tactics. Batting thou we have failed miserably & going by Cooks knock theres no reason why pujara would not have done well too. Pujara buddy hang in there youll make it soon.

on January 11, 2013, 8:37 GMT

dhinda is not fit to be in team, shami should be have been in, he doesnt turn ball around and have no future

khurramkhalil23
on January 11, 2013, 8:08 GMT

where is shami ahmed ??... dhoni also gives surprises but shami is a good bowler and dinda is avg bowler... dhoni is a powerful captain that's way poor shami is not playing :(

colossalcricketer
on January 11, 2013, 8:05 GMT

Ashwin is one of the worst spinners I have ever seen! I bet my club's spinner is better than him!

Nish_US
on January 11, 2013, 8:00 GMT

I now rate Harsha little higher.....for trying to bring up the pujara issue.. with every spineless Indian commentator... all of who just kept mumb and dumb

Nish_US
on January 11, 2013, 7:59 GMT

Learning experience for Dinda.. he will give his heart out.. says Ganguly.. without anyone asking anything...

But when Harsha asks - when someone is in prime form.. performs with an average of 361 in challenger series cannot find a place.....He keeps his mouth shut....

nani8191
on January 11, 2013, 7:48 GMT

Again dhoni is repeating same mistake that including ravindra jadeja and dinda in this match.We need a perfect batsmen for this pitch instead of jadeja he can go for rohit sharma who can bat well in these type of flat tracks and instead of dinda he go for a another bengal pacer shami ahamed who can swing the ball shami bowled well aganist pakistan in the first 10 overs.

Nish_US
on January 11, 2013, 7:45 GMT

Crap... 2:44 AM on the east coast.... 19 overs 105 runs... no wickets..
only possibilities missed by such a defensive field..

still up on a weekday...

hoping for pujara......kept on sidelines....

Dire situation for an ardent Indian Fan

Nish_US
on January 11, 2013, 7:43 GMT

Best batsman from Test series.... In the squad finds no place...
Best bowler from Test series..... no place in the squad

Rest ...failing miserably to put a score or defend a sub-par score

Nish_US
on January 11, 2013, 7:41 GMT

Did not watch Shami ahmed...but did not find anything special with this Dinda guy.... even ganguly was backing him up...

cric_mojo
on January 11, 2013, 7:39 GMT

Commentary by Laxman Sivaram unbelievably die hard indian, can't do neutral or appreciating good play commentary. They keep saying a good batting strip for England Innings & then suddenly while India bat.. pitch does all kinds of things.... Indian Bowling here is being toyed around.. just like in galli cricket ... Ashwin a strike bowler hardly spins.. if this was Swann bowling.. we woudl all be at edge of seats.. hoping wicket doesn't go down..

Nish_US
on January 11, 2013, 7:32 GMT

Joe root finds a place in the ODI team based on a single 50 in the test series

and someone with a ton and a double waits on the side lines...

Nish_US
on January 11, 2013, 7:30 GMT

How much ever I cry... Pujara cannot play today...

so moving on... what a defensive captaincy when the ball is doing a little bit and you do not have a first slip in place...

MEHATELK
on January 11, 2013, 7:09 GMT

Any body think when dinda and jadeja come to ball , what english batsman will feel, they will smile and try to smash all the deliveries.what a match they are going to have.they dont need to take any risk to put 300 plus total.

Woww wat a selection..there's no place for new shammi ahmed, who did well against pak. Dinda again. Full politics, its not a fair play of game..The hugely talented :D rohit sharma again in thee squad. itz not only a game ..itzz a religion.soo selectors dont play with our emotions. Give a chance to well deserve players.

cric_mojo
on January 11, 2013, 6:45 GMT

The way Dhoni didn't mention Shami Ahmed in presentation after pak win speaks of not wanting him in team. Look at the match all short pitchers selected.. .. it will be interesting to see Dinda getting thrashed today!!! Good luck India u've gone with wrong selection & hopefully not pay for it again!!!

baranasai
on January 11, 2013, 6:30 GMT

It is sad to see people like Rohit sharma are in whereas people like Pujara are sitting outside/ he hs not given chnace to Shami Patel/ Dhoni will never take can perform better-he can only choose people who are not in form like Ghambir etc /

on January 11, 2013, 6:29 GMT

Thats very good toss to win and bat....We miss Shewag on this high scoring pitch..Remember India vs Srilanka at Rajkot..Shewag got hundred and India scored 414.

on January 11, 2013, 6:25 GMT

best of luck INDIA
I hope they start with a win & end with a win
Buck up India

on January 11, 2013, 6:21 GMT

Why no Pujara????? Ridiculous..

AkDoN
on January 11, 2013, 6:19 GMT

Why the heck Ashok Dinda is there in team for todays match. This is a flat wkt & nothing for bowler.. & dinds with his shot balls will get thrashed by ENG batting my guess is IND alrady lost match by @ 50 Runs

CricketChat
on January 12, 2013, 11:57 GMT

Ind must play an extra batsman in shorter formats. Kohli has been in miserable form of late. With openers failing (this match, of course, is an exception), he is expected to hold the top order. The tail has become long too. starting right after Dhoni. To consider Jadeja and Ashwin as batsmen is a mistake. They managed to score runs only in hopeless situations (a match certain to lose with asking rate at 20+ or 300 runs to get with 2 wkts in hand etc.) with nothing to lose and no expectations before.

baranasai
on January 12, 2013, 9:54 GMT

India has done reasonably well even asthey have lost the match .They have shown they can fight and loose rather than meekly surrender.
One area of concern is their bowlers inspite of playing so many matches are not able to learn how to contain their opponents as well as bowl in an effective way.Their batsmen have been the problem before but this match they have made it up to some extent.I still feel thee should be a rotation of the Btasmen and the bowlers so that the inform people are in and those without form are out for some time.in this case we have to send out Ashwin and Kohli who are not in their best.Like shewag they need to go for some time

on January 11, 2013, 8:10 GMT

India might win this match or more likely lose this match. I really don't understand the thinking behind dropping Shami Ahmed for Dinda though I have nothing against Dinda. Shami Ahmed bowled a wicket maiden over in the 48th over of the match against Pakistan to seal the match for India and I really cant fathom why he isnt playing in the XI. Pujara is a batsman in great form who has scored a triple century in Ranji Trophy and he also isnt playing. I just dont understand the logic.

AkDoN
on January 11, 2013, 6:19 GMT

Why the heck Ashok Dinda is there in team for todays match. This is a flat wkt & nothing for bowler.. & dinds with his shot balls will get thrashed by ENG batting my guess is IND alrady lost match by @ 50 Runs

on January 11, 2013, 6:21 GMT

Why no Pujara????? Ridiculous..

on January 11, 2013, 6:25 GMT

best of luck INDIA
I hope they start with a win & end with a win
Buck up India

on January 11, 2013, 6:29 GMT

Thats very good toss to win and bat....We miss Shewag on this high scoring pitch..Remember India vs Srilanka at Rajkot..Shewag got hundred and India scored 414.

baranasai
on January 11, 2013, 6:30 GMT

It is sad to see people like Rohit sharma are in whereas people like Pujara are sitting outside/ he hs not given chnace to Shami Patel/ Dhoni will never take can perform better-he can only choose people who are not in form like Ghambir etc /

cric_mojo
on January 11, 2013, 6:45 GMT

The way Dhoni didn't mention Shami Ahmed in presentation after pak win speaks of not wanting him in team. Look at the match all short pitchers selected.. .. it will be interesting to see Dinda getting thrashed today!!! Good luck India u've gone with wrong selection & hopefully not pay for it again!!!

raazfoxy80
on January 11, 2013, 6:56 GMT

Woww wat a selection..there's no place for new shammi ahmed, who did well against pak. Dinda again. Full politics, its not a fair play of game..The hugely talented :D rohit sharma again in thee squad. itz not only a game ..itzz a religion.soo selectors dont play with our emotions. Give a chance to well deserve players.

Any body think when dinda and jadeja come to ball , what english batsman will feel, they will smile and try to smash all the deliveries.what a match they are going to have.they dont need to take any risk to put 300 plus total.

Nish_US
on January 11, 2013, 7:30 GMT

How much ever I cry... Pujara cannot play today...

so moving on... what a defensive captaincy when the ball is doing a little bit and you do not have a first slip in place...